Taiju no Ho
by fealion
Summary: Humanity came to an end because of Madara's "Moon Eye". Now Naruto and Sakura--the last two humans on earth-- are sent back to make sure that it never comes to pass.......Yaoi; possible Yuri. Rated M cause I don't wanna hafta change it later. MESSAGE PLZ!
1. Wakare

Title:Taiju no Ho (Large tree of Fire)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto! If I did;…..let's just say that it would be Jiriya's paradise.

The wind whistled through the shattered windows, creating a mournful, haunting tune that seemed to lament the death of the village through which it flowed. Dust and ash covered everything in a red-grey blanket of dispair; the skeletons of calcified trees littering the remains of a forest turned into a desolate wasteland. The faces that were carved into the mountian overlooked their broken home; their equally destroyed faces giving them a look of infinate sorrow for the graveyard they now guarded.

Shadows moved with an alien grace; releaving the blackened creatures that walked among them, their snouts low to the ground, puffs of air stirring the blanet, like they were searching for something. Suddenly one gave out a long, thin screech, like a child being slowly tourtured to death. The pink-haired woman who was watching them shuddered; the faces of those who had emmited the exact same scream flashing through her minds eye in rapid sucession.

'_They've found us; must tell the baka 'bout this.'___

With barely a flux in her chakra she was gone, not even the swirl of dust betraying her previous position. Appearing in a tunnel deep within the base of the mountian with faces—once upon a time known as "Hokage Mountian"—the woman flicked her unrly, curly pink calf length hair behind her curvy 26-year-old frame; her mint green eyes cold and calculating, only the barest hints of worry shot through, fracturing her 'shinobi face' as she and her companion liked to call it. They were the only ones; despite the Hyuuga's kekki genkai, despite the Yamanaka's jutsu, despite the proweress of the Sand Siblings and the 'Kages—all had been for naught, for they were the only humans left to walk the earth. A single tear escaped the konoichi's eyes as she though of those who were lost before resolutly shaking her head, opening the large double doors with the words "Shichidaime Hokage" carved above them.

"They've found us."

The blond looked up from the scroll he was reading before—sighing like a man far older than his 26 years—brushing the bangs out of his cerulean eyes, getting up from his chair and walking towards his weapons in one fluid motion.

"How long ago?"

"About 3 minutes. They should be at the top of the mountian within the next 40."

The blond nodded his head strapping his two katana—Kitsune-Bi (1) and Tetusou Sankon(2)—to his back, along with two kunai pouches on either calf. His clothing consisted of typical ANBU armor for his lower half; black on black instead of the traditional black on white. A long, black trench coat covered his shoulders and back, leaving his chest bare, allowing one to see the seal that wound its way along his torso like a long line of ants, each kanji glowing with an inner fire. Black ANBU bracers on his forearms and and black and silver hitai-ite across his brow completed the look.

The woman copied her companion with the two kunai pouches,donning steel-plated gloves to complete her weaponry; her clothes consisting of traditional black on white ANBU armor,complete with a white mask in the likeness of a wolf. Silence reinged as they both came to terms with what their exposion signified before straightening themselves and walking out of the room, sealing it and every other room they came upon as they made their way to the surface. Sealing the entry-way to the inter-mountain complex, the two smiled at eachother grimly before turning to face the direction that they knew that the enemy would be coming from. Silence reigned for a while, each lost in their own thoughts before the woman spoke up, drawing her companion to her sea-foam eyes, which were laced with rarely seen sadness and grief.

"I never expected US of all people to be the last…….I mean; just look at how recklessly we threw ourselves into battle; you especially, though I mean no disrespect Shichidiame."

The blonde man raised an eyebrow, smirking in spite of the gravity of the situation they were facing.

"OH, so NOW you want to call me by my title?*Chuckle* I think not; the Haruno Sakura I knew would always call me baka or aho or even Naruto-teme, even after I became Hokage. What changed?"

"…..The world did Naruto. The fact that the kami's decided to punish the entire human race based upon the actions of that one bastard! They didn't even LISTEN to our attempts to save those who were innoccent……..Gone Naruto, they're all GONE…….Hyuuga, Akamichi, Nara, Sarutobi, The Sand Siblings, Kakashi-sensei…..even Lee. .."

"Lets hope that the kami's kept the afterlife at least, so that we can meet them there."

Sakura looked at Naruto with wide eyes before slowly crumpling to the ground, her silent weeping shaking her frame. Naruto smiled sadly before kneeling beside her, listening silently as she spoke.

"It's not FAIR!!......My little Akiko-chan…..Lee and I were sooo happy when she was born……when she reached her 4th birthday…………..Why couldn't the kami's have taken her instead of letting her be eaten by those THINGS?!......And what about Kakashi-sensei?..............It nearly broke you when he sacrificed himself for you……………….why Naruto?........ Why did this have to happen?"

"Honestly? I don't know……If I could go back and change the past I would Sakura, you know that…….Buut I can't; and no amount of wishing can change that. The best we can do is give them hell and go down in a blaze of glory brighter than any other so that the demons and lesser kami's will whisper the names of Kyuubi no Naruto(3) and Nagurikorosu Haruno(4) in fear; The Shichidaime Hokage and Konohakagure ANBU; the only humans able to strike fear in even the highest of kami's, their power so great, so legendary that they could be counted among the kami's themselves. Now get yourself into shape to kick some Bukimi(5) butt."

"*Strangled chuckle* Even when you're about to die you're still a knuckle-head."

"That's me! The number one knuckle-head of all Konoha!"

"*Laugh* Come on knuckle-head-teme; we've got a reputation to uphold."

"That's the Sakura I know."

Sakura smiled before putting on her mask, following Naruto with the Shushin no Jutsu(6) as fast as possible as he used his father's Hiraishin no Jutsu(7) to surprise the enemy, managing to slaughter the first 20 with the Chidori before the rest became aware of his actions. A fierce battle followed, Naruto and Sakura unleashing Jutsu's from Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Ame, Getsu, Hoshi, Kiri, Kumo, Kusa, Taki, Yuga and Yuki; the villages had stopped guarding their jutsu's so despirate had they become that ANYONE who could learn them was welcome in a last ditch effort to save the human race. Lot of good that did them.

"SAKURA! We can't hold them for much longer!"

Naruto yelled out his friend, rows upon rows of Bukimi surrounding them.

"I guess it's time for THAT technique then?"

Naruto smiled through his Kyuubi transformation, the red slitted eyes, elongated canines, red fox ears and nine tails along with the demonic-glowing of the seal giving him a feral look; it also helped that see seemed to be bathed in blood, the only clear areas being where his tongue could reach as he fought the Bukimi.

"Hai!"

As one they jumped form the ground onto the –no other way to describe it—hill of Bukimi that they had created, handseals forming in rapid sucession, a blur of motion and sound as they chanted. As one they ended on 'dragon', all of their chakra forming into a sphere the width and length of Konoha; as tall as the mountain upon which they stood. Slowly the sphere grew smaller, compacting the chakra on it's self an infinite number amount of times untill it was about the size of a beach-ball.

"Shimai no Jutsu(8)!"

The sphere released all of it's energy in a massive explosion, vaporizing every thing within a 60 mile radius. Naruto smiled as the power buffeted his Kyuubi chakra; not even he would be able to withstand the power of the blast for much longer.

'_Soon we will all be together. Soon I will be with my Kakashi-aijin(9). Soon;…….soon.' _

Naruto would have cursed if he knew how very wrong he was.

* * *

1:Fox-fire

2:Soul Scattering Iron Claw (yes I stole this from Inuyasha. DEAL WITH IT)

3:Naruto of the Nine-tails (At least I HOPE that's what it means)

4:Literally "Strike Dead Haruno" (if you know which Sannin she trains under, you know what I mean)

5:Eerie, Ominous- refers to their scream and the fact that after their spotted, death soon follows

6:Body Flicker Technique

7:The Thunder God's Technique (reason why the Yondaime was called the "Yellow Flash")

8:End Technique (powerful suicide jutsu)

9:Lover Kakashi


	2. Saikai

Chapter 2: Saikai (Reunion)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!!!! If I did I wouldn't be livin with my 'rents right now…..

A/N: To anyone who knows Japanese well enough to be offended by my lack of knowledge…..nihongo ga hetakuso de suman.

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the trees, casting everything into a dappled dance of shadow and light as the wind blew through them. The blonde haired man moaned tiredly as a fox came up to inspect him; red fur tickling his nose and making him shoot upright as he sneezed. Taking a look around, the man just sported more and more of a confused expression as he took stock of his surroundings.

'_Where the hell am I? ……………………………I doubt I'm in the afterlife; I can still feel Kyuubi's chakra running through me. Don't think that those pansy kami's would want a demon lord anywhere NEAR them.' _

'_**Damn right I'm still here Naruto!' **_

Naruto started the rough, gravelly voice of the Kyuubi intruding into his thoughts.

'_K-Kyuubi?' _

'_**Who do you expect it to be?! That cracked-up jumpsuit wearing sensei that always spews nonsense bout "the Fire of Youth!"?!' **_

'……_.Okaaaaaaayy; ignoring that last statement…. Do you have any idea WHAT is going on?' _

'_**Yea.' **_

'…………………………………………………………_.WELL?' _

Kyuubi sighed; how was this idiot going to believe him? Hell; he didn't even believe himself. He couldn't deny what the Kami's had told him though, no matter how insane it seemed.

'_**The Kami's…'**_

'_Yea right.' _

'_**Do you want and explanation or NOT?!' **_

'_Sorry.' _

'_**AS I was saying; The Kami's realized their mistake in allowing the human race to die, though it was a little late to do something about it in terms of 'preserving' the human race in our time-stream. So they decided to send you and pinky (Sakura) back far enough into the past so that the events that lead to the destruction of the human race could be averted.' **_

'……_..So; you're saying we were brought back to the past? How far?' _

'_**How should I know?!' **_

Naruto ran his fingers through his hair, trying to come to grips with the information that Kyuubi had given him. Anger flashed across his features as he thought of the reason for humanities downfall in the first place; it was like the kami's wanted him to fix THEIR mistake for them! Letting his breath out in a sound of annoyance, Naruto re-directed his focus to feel out Sakura's chakra, finding her near the Memorial. Using the Hiraishin, Naruto popped up behind her, smiling gently as she stared at the stone.

"Their names aren't here."

"Of course they aren't; they can't be there if their still alive can they?"

Sakura nodded numbly before turning to face Naruto, her eyes full of unspillt tears.

"They're alive Naruto;…THEY'RE ALIVE!"

Sakura flung herself into her Shichidaime's arms, sobbing as Naruto gently stroked her hair. They were like this for a time; Friends, superior and subordinate, two broken souls who wept in gratitude as they realized that their loved ones still walked this earth. Slowly Sakura pulled away from Naruto, a rueful smile working its way onto her face.

"Here I am, Captain of the Squad Zero ANBU, crying because there are people ALIVE."

Naruto smiled, placing a battle-scarred hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok to cry when you're happy Ookami (1)."

Sakura smiled as she put on her mask, chuckling as she noticed the ANBU that had appeared behind them. Naruto smirked as well; these may be Konoha ANBU, but compared to the ANBU he had lead against the Bukimi and the lesser kami who attacked Konoha, they were weak.

********

"_Shichidaime-sama! Squads 2 and 3 reporting in!" _

_Naruto stated before nodding his head; the fact that he was now the Shichidaime hadn't quite sunk in yet; he still expected to be treated like an ANBU captain and the sudden attention unnerved him. It was ironic considering that Hokage had once been his highest aspiration. _

"_Kuma, Suzune! Have your squads take the north-west edge of the valley; squad 0 and I will take the south-east side. We must NOT allow them to advance any farther!" _

_Naruto put on his white ANBU kitsune mask, letting his anticipation of battle be felt through his chakra instead of seen through his feral smile. _

"_We are the elite of the elite! We are the nightmares of nightmares! We are wraiths in the night who deal death and destruction to our enemies! WE. ARE. ANBU!" _

_The ANBU gathered cheered at their Hokage's words, quieting as he held a hand up for silence. _

"_We are the front-line to protect Konohakagure and her allies from her enemies! We are the force that has prevented the destruction of our village and her people countless times! We WILL prevail! We WILL protect Konoha! We WILL strike fear into the heart of our enemies not only because we are ANBU, but because we protect something far more precious than ourselves; the Will of Fire that is re-born within each new child! That is why we will live……..That is why we will WIN!" _

_As the ANBU cheered uproariously at his speech, Naruto signaled to the squad leaders, giving the order to move out. Little did they know that only 3 of them would make it back alive…. _

*******

"….aime? Shichidaime!"

Naruto snapped his eyes open, his breath coming in ragged pants as he tried to orient himself. He was currently pinned to a tree by Ookami which was leaning over dangerously from the amount of force she had to apply to keep him in place. Slowly he let his muscles relax, lowering his chakra and killing intent to a more reasonable level, staring at Ookami as she released him.

"What happened?"

"What happened?! Your eyes rolled back and you went off about how we needed to kill the Bukami and tried to attack the other ANBU, that's what!"

"Gomen; I had a flash-back, that's all."

Ookami stiffened, placing a hand on his arm.

"When was it?"

"…..At the Valley."

Ookami lowered her head and silence reigned for a time until one of the other ANBU came forward, the mask of a dog covering his face, his silver hair defying gravity as he moved with a lazy, controlled grace. Naruto raised an eyebrow and grinned at Ookami who just rolled her eyes at him.

"Who are you?"

Naruto grinned even wider, casting a side-ways glance at Ookami and nodding his head when she tilted hers toward him.

"*sigh* Are you sure?"

Naruto's grin gained a feral edge as he once again nodded, though his stance told Ookami that there was no room to argue.

"Fine. *clears throat* My name is Haruno Sakura (the gathered ANBU gasped; when you wore your mask you weren't supposed to give out your real identity. EVER), Captain of the Squad 0 ANBU and Counselor to the Shichidiame Hokage. I am also known as 'Nagurikorosu Haruno' because of the Sannin I trained under."

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, Shichidaime Hokage of Konohakagure, Jinchūriki of Kyuubi no Yoko, Toad Sage, and Son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. I am known as 'Kyuubi no Naruto' and 'The Second Flash' because I was able to master the Hiraishin."

Shocked silence settled over the group; even the wind had gone silent, as if it understood the tension of the moment. Naruto ruined it though when he sniggered at what Kyuubi was saying.

'_**HAHAHAHA! They look like a bunch of kits who just found out their mum got eaten by a wolf! They don't know whether ta kill you, call you crazy, or both!'**_ (Kyuubi is VERY good at readin other peoples chakra)

Ookami looked to Naruto, shaking her head and smacking him upside the head when he didn't stop.

"Ow! What the heck was that for Sakura?!"

"Teme! It's bad enough that they're shocked off their asses from what we told them; sniggering from listening to Kyuubi insulting them isn't going to help!"

Naruto laughed out loud at this, dodging her frustrated punches with deceptive ease while the others stared at them, the little anime-sweat drop thing appearing on the back of their head.

"Ano…….We need to escort you to the Hokage………we should do it before the hunters are sent here instead……….You aren't listening to me at all are you?.........."

Inu turned to look at his squad, rolling his eyes as they shrugged their shoulders timidly (if idiots were making large-ass craters all around you and filling them back in again, what would you do?). Squaring his shoulders, Inu drew in a large breath, dropping his voice so that it was low and authoritative.

*clears throat* ANBU! ASSEMBLE RANKS!"

Naruto and Sakura stooped dead in their tracks and formed a two-man line within a split second, calling out their ANBU ranks with trained precision.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Leader of ANBU ROOT Squad 0….!"

"…And Haruno Sakura, Leader of ANBU Squad 0….!"

(said in unison) "….At the service and discretion of the Sandiame Hokage!"

"………..ANBU ROOT……..?"

Naruto smirked at the worry in Inu's voice; it seemed that not even the elite of the elite could relax when Danzo's organization was brought up.

"That's right…..Don't worry; I didn't become ROOT until after Danzo died."

A sharp intake of breath was all that betrayed their shock at the news before Inu turned his head sharply to try and find the one who caused it.

'_These shinobi know far too much and are far too at ease with what they have said for them to be lying……Either that or my nose and chakra perception have gone to shit recently…….*hmph* What to do, what to do?' _

"You could start by taking us to Sarutobi Hakate-san."

Inu didn't even try to stop the various sounds of surprise and anger this time; just who was this man?!

"ANBU! I want a Kuikikaze(2) set up extending 4 feet in all directions at maximum strength! We will escort them to the Sandaime while rendering them harmless to Konoha; you have my permission to kill-on-sight if they so much as try to breath the wrong way! Am I understood?!"

"HAI!"

"Then let's move out!"

Naruto and Sakura were whisked away to the Hokage Tower in the middle of the jutsu, Naruto's smirk never leaving his face…..

* * *

1; ok, shouldn't have ta explain this, but Ookami means wolf. ANBU show no emotion, so of course Naruto would have to say that to Sakura!

2: Literally "Wind Domain". A dome of concentrated wind-chakra (let's pretend someone OTHER than Minato, Naruto, and Asuma has wind-based chakra k?)


	3. Yotei

_**Disclaimer:**__** I DON'T FRIGGING OWN NARUTO!!**_ If I did Orochimaru wouldn't be a crazy snake psychopath and women wouldn't be so mean to Jiraya-kun.

A/N: I wanna thank ALL the people who reviewed. Thank you for letting me know my writing isn't a load of bull hockey! (my bros' say that sometimes so, yea)

Anyways, THANK YOU:

Sanz0girl

Stormraven

Nvgurl

Geetac

Oubli

gullie89

Malevolent Onyx Dragon

Lejenn

Kathie-Rin

.girl

DeSyvPlager

Theresa of the Faint Smile

GetOutOfMyWayGirl

Crimson-Cataracts

THANK YOU!!!!

* * *

As they walked through the village, Naruto took note of everything, looking pleased as he saw that everything was as he remembered it before the destruction of the village. Looking up, Naruto's eyes widened briefly before a more neutral expression took over. Lightly brushing against Sakura's chakra with his own, he flicked his eyes to what he had noticed when he felt her eyes on him. Slowly she looked up, letting out an amused snort before controlling herself.

'_So __**THAT'S**__ how far we were sent.' _

What did they see?

Four faces of four hokage's graced the mountain side, their colossal presence awe inspiring. But it was not the faces themselves that caused the reactions; rather, it was the neon green and yellow graffiti that covered the faces with flowers, dots and zigzags. A bright orange figure with yellow hair could barely be seen hanging from a single rope form the top of the mountain, two large brushes in either hand as he continued his '_unique'_ form of art. Suddenly he jerked himself up the rope, the swiftly approaching figures of two jounin moving with an angry energy.

Naruto sniggered; he remembered how fun it had been to do that and outright laughed as Kyuubi decided to make his thoughts known.

'_**You should have used the permanent paint like I told you to!!' **_

'_That was you?!'_

Oh yes; changing the past was goin to be fun!

0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o

**Sandaime's Office**

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Sarutobi sighed and looked up from the painting he was currently working on, smoke escaping lazily form the pipe he held in his mouth as he sent the jounin a questioning glare.

"It's Naruto again sir!"

Sarutobi rolled his eyes; what had that brat gotten himself into now?

"What now?"

"He flung graffiti all over the Hokage Mountain Monument!"

'_How do you fling graffiti?'_

Sarutobi shook his head and was about to get up when older Naruto and his group busted into the room, the gathered ANBU arguing noisily over something while their captives stared around them impassively.

"What in heaven's name is going on?! Inu; explain yourself!"

Inu(kakashi) rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, his calm demeanor betraying nothing of the inner turmoil that writhed just beneath the surface.

When the man that claimed he was Naruto (he had been watching over his sensei's son since the kid was 3; he doubted that THIS man could be him) had released that massive KI (Killing intent) Kakashi almost passed out from it _ALONE_. Combine it with the density of his chakra and you got an attack that froze even the most hardened of shinobi with absolute **FEAR**.

The stunt that he had pulled with all those fake titles of his didn't calm down Kakashi's nerves any either; that and the fact that the dude didn't act _ANYTHING_ like a hokage—or even an ANBU—should. All in all, Kakashi was wishing that he had followed common sense instead of gut instinct when he had first caught sight of the unfamiliar shinobi, though he couldn't shake off the small, persistent sensation that told him that the flaxen man was _HIS_ in every sense of the word.

Shaking his head, Kakashi stared at the Sandaime with an almost impish gleam in his eyes, gesturing to the captives with a lazy hand.

"We—my team and I—apprehended them near the memorial stone; they aren't any shinobi that we recognize yet they had the hitai-ite of Konoha and new with great intimacy some very '_touchy_' details and secrets of the village that not even most jounin know."

Sarutobi arched an eyebrow in mild surprise.

"And? Why did you not kill them or take them to Iba instead of coming here?"

"It's because of who they said they were Hokage-sama."

"And who would they be?"

Konohamaru chose that exact moment to perform one of his "sneak attacks" on his grandfather, bursting into the room and throwing a poorly aimed smoke bomb, which served more to hamper his movements than to actually help conceal himself. Gagging on the smoke, the boy threw down his challenge.

"Old man! You are gonna fight me and I'm gonna win……..cause……….Who are they?"

Konohamaru pointed to Naruto and Sakura who stood stock still with wide, disbelieving eyes, chakra raising slightly as they stared at him.

"Kono—Konohamaru? Sarutobi Konohamaru; is that really you?"

"Of course!.......How do you know my name anyways?"

Naruto just shook his head as he slowly sank to his knees, a concerned whine escaping Ookami's lips before she managed to contain herself as Naruto once again lost himself to the past.

* * *

"_Naruto-nii-chan! They've taken the South-western forest! If this keeps up they'll be here before sundown!" _

_A 20-year-old Konohamaru came running up to Naruto, long chestnut hair fluttering madly in the breeze of the jounin's body flicker, inky black eyes filled with fear. A near-perfect copy of his uncle, the young man had really proven himself in the years since the start of the war; he had emerged unscathed from countless battles that would have otherwise ended in complete genocide. _

_His cousin, Asuma (named after his father) had died the year before; Kurenai couldn't handle the death of her only connection to the late Sarutobi and had ended her life shortly after. He was truly the last Sarutobi. _

_Naruto signaled to show that he had heard, coming up behind the boy a short time later with 20 Konoha-nins in tow. _

"_Show me." _

"_Huh?" _

"_You heard me; I want you to show me where they are. Then you and I are going to lead the attack against them and drive the motherfuckers back." _

"_B-but Hokage-sama!" _

"_No buts; this may be the only chance we have of keeping Konoha safe for just a little longer and I will NOT let it go to waste." _

_Konohamaru shuddered; this wasn't the Naruto-nii-chan he remembered. War had replaced the knuckle-head with a stern, unforgiving tactician; the true Naruto came out only rarely, if at all. Nodding, Konohamaru signaled for the others to follow before disappearing in a blur of speed in the direction of the newest threat to the village. _

_It only took minutes to reach the teeming mass of black, the gathered shinobi hissing in shock and fear as they saw how close the enemy was to the village. _

"_Shikamaru! I need you and Choji to lead your teams and flank them on the right; Gai and Lee, you take your teams and flank on the left. Konohamaru and I will take the middle; there is no room for error here people, let me make it clear; if we fail, Konoha will be dead before midnight. That is why we MUST succeed, even if we die in the process." _

_The shinobi gathered nodded and watched their Hokage in grim silence, disappearing with the whisper of a breeze as Naruto signaled them to get into position. Closing his eyes, Naruto allowed 3 of the tails to appear, the Kyuubi's chakra forming a protective layer around him. Konohamaru raised an eyebrow in surprise. _

"_You haven't used THAT form in a while." _

_Naruto chuckled dryly as he glanced over to Konohamaru, raising an eyebrow in question. Nodding, the last Sarutobi filled his lungs to the max before releasing the air in an unholy screech, making the gathered enemy sprout wounds from thin air and actually managing to behead some of the creatures before the shinobi descended upon them, looking like the wrath of an ancient god with all of their justu's powered to the max. _

_Gai and Lee had gone down within the first 20 minutes; both of the idiots opening all of the Lotus gates and managing to take down thousands of the enemy before their bodies simply collapsed in on themselves, leaving nothing but bloody pulps encased within green jumpsuits behind. Shikamaru and Choji went down as best friends should; fighting back-to-back, each taking down hundreds of bukami even as they were slowly crushed to death by the sheer numbers of the enemy. _

_Over an hour later Naruto finally managed to drive the bukami far enough away from himself to take stock of the situation; what he saw chilled him to the bone. Bodies littered the forest floor; mountains of bukami ringing the places where the Konoha shinobi fell, showing how viciously the Hidden Leaf-nins fought even unto their last breath. Shakily Naruto looked around, a growl ripping its way out of his throat before he Hirashined to Konohamaru's side; the last shinobi besides himself, with multiple deadly wounds crossing and puncturing his body, blood flowing freely from all._

_Turning, Konohamaru gave Naruto a tired, lopsided grin, speaking even as blood bubbled on the side of his mouth. _

"_I guess my luck finally ran out eh, Naruto-nii-chan?" _

_Naruto's throat constricted dangerously at the young man's words, putting on a shaky grin as tears leaked through shut eyes._

"_Don't talk Konohamaru; I'll finish these guy's off and then take you to Sakura to be treated. You'll be fine, you'll see." _

_Konohamaru smiled sadly and shook his head, glancing at the warily advancing bukami as he spoke. _

"_No Naruto; the village needs you—their Hokage—now more than ever……." _

'_And I'm expendable.' _

_Naruto clenched his hand tightly before shakily forming the hand seal for the kage bushin, his clone staying behind as he Hirashined it out of there. _

"_Konohamaru?" _

"_Yea Naruto-nii-chan?" _

"_You…………You would have been the Hachidaime Hokage one day." _

_Konohamaru gave one last brilliant smile. _

"_Thank you Nii-chan…………..I… want to show you the only jutsu I managed to create on my own; I hope that I'm the only one who ever has to use it. _

_Shimai no Justu(1)!" _

_Konohamaru died like a true hero; his sacrifice gained another 3 months of life for the village; just enough time to hollow out the mountain and turn it into a inter-mountain city, which in turn bought another 2 years of life for the people. Naruto wasn't lying when he said that Konohamaru would've been the Hachidaime; in his book, the young man already was. _

* * *

Slowly Naruto re-surfaced back to the present, hastily wiping away the tears on his face as he became aware of the stares directed at him, a stubborn grin working its way onto his face as he pushed himself back up.

"So………Naruto. Haruno filled us in while you were 're-living' your past, though she made up an acceptable excuse as to why you broke at seeing my grandson for him. I would like to hear your side of the story as I have the feeling she did not explain everything."

"What do you know?"

"Only that you and she are indeed who you claim to be; no one can duplicate the seal you posses nor can anyone not of the Haruno family know of certain things that Sakura divulged to me. Whatever future you came from, it must be one filled with great sorrow to make you break so completely at seeing one of us, even if we are younger in this timeline."

Naruto nodded; specific enough to make them believe that what the two said was truth, but vague enough that they didn't need to tell the whole truth. Naruto took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, an air of authority settling around him as he did so. When he opened his eyes the knuckle-head had retreated; the tactician had taken his place.

"Things really didn't start to go downhill until the Akatsuki came for me; the cover reason was that they need the bijuu's power in order to create a weapon that was supposed to usher in a new peace; the real reason was far worse."

Naruto took in a deep breath, shooting a concerned look to Sakura as he did so. Even in this day and age, what he was about to speak of was a Level 3 S-class secret; they could be killed for even mentioning it.

" Uchiha Madara—."

There were collective gasps and murmurs of disbelief broke out as the named was mentioned, and Naruto had to glare at them with Kyuubi's eyes before it quieted enough for him to continue.

" Uchiha Madara planned to re-unite the power of the bijuu's and re-create the Jūbi before absorbing it into himself, giving him the power to shape the world to his will. While he was unable to get his hands on me—and by relation, the Kyuubi—he was still able to amass enough power to construct a mass genocide of every shinobi on the planet. Sakura and I were the last humans of free will outside of Madara's control; all others had either died or had been subverted into mindless creatures for his use. The kami's sent us back here to this time to make sure that it does _NOT_ happen."

Silence greeted Naruto's words, the horror from even this blatant half-truth driving all to silence. Clearing his throat, Naruto bared his canines as they elongated dangerously, scanning the room with red slitted eyes.

"I will do whatever it takes to assure that_ that_ future NEVER comes to pass, but Sakura and I must be allowed to make our own decisions in everything, regardless if others would be unable to get the permission themselves. Do we have your word that we will be given free reign Sandaime-Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi grunted, his face set in a deep frown as he processed what Naruto was saying along with what he was asking. Sighing, he nodded his head, holding up his hand to forestall any thanking on the blondes part.

"Two conditions."

"And those would be?"

"One; you must choose different names for yourselves while you remain here. Two; report in at least once a week. You don't have to tell me the specifics as long as you can convince me that you aren't doing anything to ruin Konoha in the present while trying to save her future."

"Agreed. Now; isn't there something you wanted to say to Kakashi?"

Sarutobi started before schooling his face into a more neutral expression; who knew what Naruto all knew. Kakashi looked at Sarutobi curiously through his mask; what could the Sandaime want to say to him?

"Yes…..The council and I have agreed; Hakate Kakashi, tonight will be your last ANBU mission. We want you to take over the training of a genin team with a certain boy on it."

"Really? And what child could be important enough, may I ask, that they would need the training of an ANBU."

"How about the last Konoha Uchiha?"

"Why?"

Naruto cut in, his frustration apparent.

"Isn't it obvious _"Copy-Cat Nin"_?Or have you forgotten about Obito's present to you already?"

Kakashi flinched as if he had been slapped; a strained air filled the room as the two looked at each other before Naruto sighed, bowing to the silver-haired man in apology.

"Gomen; sometimes I let my tongue speak ahead of my thoughts. It is no excuse for the memories I've probably dug up for you; I hope you'll recognize the apology of an idiot when you hear one."

To everyone's surprise they heard Kakashi chuckle slightly before he reached up and untied his mask, catching it in one hand to reveal a mask that covered the face up to the nose, two eyes—one black, one red—set underneath silver brows that sparkled with a rarely seen miscevious inner light.

"You're too much like Obito for your own good, you baka. But then again, I'm sure the future me has already told you that, right?"

Naruto chuckled, signaling for Sakura to take her mask off as well.

"You have; but it's nice to hear every now and again. Sandaime!"

"Hm?"

"I would like to be placed on Kakashi's team and I would like Sakura to be placed on Maito Gai's team if it's not too much trouble."

"May I ask why?"

"For Kakashi it's obvious; The Copy-nin and the last Uchiha on one team? Your gonna need some extra help. Same for Gai's team; Neji may be of the branch house, but his Byakugan rivals even his uncles. Tenten and Rock Lee are also invaluable if we are unable to alter the future; not all battles can be fought with jutsu's alone, no matter how powerful."

Sarutobi chuckled; the man certainly knew how to drive a point home to his advantage.

"Very well; Namikaze Naruto, Haruno Sakura! You will report in tomorrow with your new names so that we can draft up official ninja papers for you and then you will be given your first assignment; Naruto to Kakashi's team and Sakura to Gai's. Are there any objections?"

"None."

Naruto and Sakura smiled; this way they wouldn't attract a lot of attention and they could protect their precious people at the same time.

* * *

1: I figured that Konohamaru had to have at least ONE jutsu that Naruto learned from him and not the other way around. I'm just mad at myself that it had to be THAT jutsu.

Fea: Please please please_ PLEASE_ REVIEW!!!!!!!

Naruto: Please! She won't shut up and she's driving me crazy!!

Fea: When did you get here?

Naruto: About halfway through the chapter…..Why did you pair me up with Kakashi?

Fea: Aww…..but you two look so CUTE together!

Naruto: *blushes* Th-that's not what I meant………….

Fea: Aww Naru-chan's blushing!

Naruto:……Shut up. You're as bad as Jiraya.

Fea: I AM NOT!........I don't peek at guys in the bath house so there!

Naruto:*goes pale* Please don't.

Fea: Anyways you shouldn't be talking about Jiraya-kun like that.

Naruto:……Jiraya…..-kun?......You're not a……….are you?

Fea: Yup!

Naruto: Great; a semi-pervert in love with a major pervert. Just great; she's the flipping writer too.

Fea:*grins sadistically* Anyways please review! Any suggestions on how you want the story to go or on pairings will greatly help!


	4. Deashi

Fea: Do I have to?!

Naruto: Do you want to get sued?

Fea:….*pouts* No.

Naruto: Then do it!

Fea: No! You do it!......*grins* Do it or else I'll tell Kakashi about your new jutsu.

Naruto: *pales* okay okay I'll do it! *mutters* Blackmailing semi-pervert….

Fea: What was that?

Naruto: Nothing! *clears throat* _**DISCLAIMER:Fealion does NOT own Naruto**_. If she did Kakashi and I would have already done it this far into the story *shudders*. I mean I like Kakashi but…..yea-no; not comfortable with that at all.

Fea:………Yet.

Naruto: SHUT UP!

Fea: On to the story! (runs away)

Naruto: Get back here!

* * *

Birds chirped merrily outside the open window, morning light streaming in and illuminating the man's golden hair, throwing it into hues of gloriously bright colors, making it stand out even more against the pillow upon which it was fanned. Sleepy cerulean eyes open only to squint at the bright sunlight, a large war-worn hand coming up to shield those eyes as a sluggish brain caught up with the present world.

'_Wha—since when did we put a window in my room?.........And why the hell are there BIRDS?! The last of them died out years ago!.................. How do put a window through solid rock anyway?' _

The man shot up in his bead, wide eyes bright with unshed tears as he took stock of his surroundings. Sticking his head out the window the man looked around, outright laughing in a deep, powerful voice as he took in the green, the color, the _LIFE_! Waving cheerfully to some genin that were walking past, the man ducked his head back in, bursting to the seams with new vitality as he realized that he would no longer have to wake up to utterly oppressive silence.

Humming softly to himself, the man got ready to face the new day, smiling gratefully as he saw that whoever had shown him to his room (he couldn't remember who) had also been thoughtful enough to replace his battle-worn gear with new—though nearly identical—ones.

Black ninja pants soaked up the morning sunlight, with black ANBU greaves attached to his thighs and shins along with a kunai pouch on either thigh. Black ANBU bracers adorned his forearms, a black floor-length trench coat being all that separated his upper torso from the elements, his silver-black hitai-ite gracing his brow. His two swords, Kitsune-Bi and Tetusou Sankon, went strapped criss-cross down the length of his back. He was just about to leave when a thought crossed his mind.

'_Aww crap!' _

Frantically the man looked around for his old clothes, letting his breath out in a rush of relief as he spotted them hanging in a closet nearby. Rifling through the pockets of his old coat, he fondly took out three necklaces, putting each of them on reverently as memories of the people behind them washed over him in a flood of emotions.

Taking a look around the room, the man made sure that everything was in order and that the front door was locked before he stepped out the window, shutting it before he made his way to the Hogake's office. Landing in front of the building, the man decided to be nice and take the stairs to meet the Hokage; after all, we wouldn't want the old man keeling over from a heart attack now would we?

Making his way down the hallway, the blonde man nodded to the ANBU guards before knocking on the Hokages door, opening it up as he was given permission to enter.

"Hey jii-chan! What's on the agenda for today?"

Sarutobi stared at Naruto before sighing deeply; he may be older and he might be a devious tactician when called for, but he was _STILL_ the number 1 knuckle-head of Konoha.

"Your late baka!"

Sakura decided to greet her friend and Hokage with a smack upside the head, making him wince slightly from the pain.

"Sorry, sorry; I almost forgot my good luck charms is all."

You still have those?!"

"Yup!"

"…..I thought Kyuubi destroyed Tsunade's when you released to eight tails."

"I re-created it or more accurately; I reversed its destruction."

"……And why couldn't you….?!"

"Because the necklace was inanimate Sakura. It had no life-force or chakra coils to re-create, no soul to try and call back from the beyond. What you are asking is something only a true kami can do. We should be happy with what chances that we _HAVE_ been given to prevent the mass genocide from occurring. Even if it's not the opportunity we wanted; we should still be grateful to be given a chance at all."

Sarutobi smiled; he may be the number one knuckle-head of Konoha but he had a far better head on those young shoulders than most men _HIS_ age. Clearing his throat, Sarutobi waited until both ANBU captains attention was on him before speaking.

"So have you decided on an alias Naruto, Sakura?"

"We have."

"And what will they be?"

Naruto stepped forward, explaining not only his name, but the fabricated history he had made for his new name as well.

"My name is Kobayashi Hiroto—age 26—banished nin of the Hoshi village who was granted sanctuary in Konoha when I pledged my kekki genkai to the village.

My kekki genkai's are the Kōha—which bends the way the light refracts in the eye itself, defeating even the Sharingan's ability to perceive genjutsu's—and the Miyagan—the "Prince Eye" which can bend anything to the wielders will and makes all jutsu based attacks useless against said wielder as while as letting the wielder copy _ANY_ kekki genkai while the eyes are activated…….No Sarutobi, your ears did not deceive you; the Miyagan is the only jutsu in the world, eye jutsu or otherwise, that will let the wielder copy a blood-line limit.

Anyways…….

The reason I was banished from the Hoshi was because of who I was related to within Konohakagure and Hoshi. My mother was Namikaze Aiko, older sister to Namikaze Minato, Konoha's "Yellow Flash" and Yondaime Hokage. My father was Kobayashi Aizen, son of the great Kobayashi Sajin, disciple of the Legendary Mourning Sage. The villagers were afraid that my loyalties were too divided for me to continue to be a part of the village so I was banished and forbidden to ever return.

I just recently found out that my cousin, the son of Minato, was alive and resolved to ask the Hokage if I would be able to take care of the boy. I have not been able to ask before because I was busy trying to prove my loyalties to Konoha by doing as many S-class missions as possible, hidden by a Kitsune mask in honor of my cousin and was forbidden to do so; until now, that is."

Naruto stepped back as Sarutobi and Sakura stared at Naruto in awe; in one explanation he managed to explain everything from why he looked like Minato and Naruto to why no one had ever seen him before and why he hadn't made contact with his '_cousin'_ beforehand. Nervously Sakura stepped forward, her explanation nowhere near as good as the one Hiroto(Naruto) had just mentioned.

"Ano;……My name is Tsukino Ayaka and I am—am…."

Sakura looked to Hiroto pleadingly as she shrugged her shoulders apologetically, wincing as Hiroto sighed and rolled his eyes before taking over.

"Her name is Tsukino Ayaka—age 26—daughter of Tsukino Hiroshi and Mastumoto Ayame, members of the Blood resistance when the Mizukage ordered the destruction of all kekki genkai's. Her kekki genkai is the Ketsueki Teki—the "Blood Whistle" which allows her to control the mood of others to the point that they will attack their own comrades with very little provocation.

She can also make any wound heal instantly or never heal at all depending on which tune she plays as she lets drops of her own blood enter into the others blood stream, wielding it at will. She just came to the village this morning and is being put on a team under Maito Gai's care to ensure that she truly is no threat to the village."

Sarutobi chuckled while Ayaka(Sakura) stared at Hiroto, who smiled smugly before turning to Sarutobi.

"Is there anything else you need to know Hokage-sama?"

"Have you written these histories down so that anyone who looks for a record will find one?"

"Complete with forged official documents of both Hoshi Village and the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"Then all we need are signatures and a picture and you'll be all set. Come with me."

After 20 minutes of setting the false documents in place and fabricating a mission history for Hiroto the two nin were finally let go, Ayaka to find Gai-sensei and train with his team and Hiroto to try and find Kakashi. As he tried to think of a good place to start, Hiroto remembered that today were the graduating exams.

'_It couldn't hurt to take a peek. Who knows; becoming friends with Iruka may be the one thing that saves my ass (from little monsters later).' _

Wandering down the hallways, Hiroto stopped in front of the door to Iruka's classroom, chuckling as his heightened senses caught the various mumblings and complaining of graduatees about how the "Darn Test was too Long!"! Hiroto was about to knock on the door when it was thrusted aside and he was bowled into by a yellow-orange blur who mumbled a quick "Gomen" before bolting down the hallway to the doors outside.

'_I must have just failed the exam for the 3__rd__ time.' _

Shaking his head, Hiroto let himself in ignoring the questioning stares of the new genin as he searched for the Umino.

"Umino Iruka? Hellloo~o! Where is that man?"

"What do you want with Iruka-sensei?"

Hiroto turned to see a brown pineapple head staring back at him, a girl with a long blonde pony-tail and a chubby boy eating chips standing right behind him.

'_Shikamaru, Choji and……..Ino…*sweat drop*……. Oh joy.' _

Hiroto rubbed the back of his head and smiled, looking like a pupil that just got caught cheating by a sensei.

"I just wanted to get to know him; I'm going to be one of the team leaders this year and since it's my first year………..I just wanted to ask him what he taught you so that I have an idea of where to go next."

Shikamaru grunted and Hiroto wasn't sure if he believed him or not until he lifted a hand and pointed to the room next to the class room.

"Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei are in there."

Hiroto let out a breath of relief, a wry grin on his face.

"Domo ne?"

Walking out of the room, Hiroto grinned as he heard the trio's conversation, pausing outside of the room so that he could finish listening in.

"There is no WAY that idiot could be a sensei!" Ino screeched, her decibel volume making Hiroto cringe.

"If you could sense chakra at all you would know that the dude has enough to take on a _demon_ and emerge unscathed. And that's only the chakra he _LETS_ other people sense; it's almost like the guy has three to four times more energy than what he shows."

"But then _*munch munch*_ how does he-*gulp* he keep up with the energy output? My- _*crunch*_my family jutsu can produce a similar- _*crunch munch* _effect, but we become deathly thin as a result."

"That's because the average shinobi only has a normal reservoir of chakra; this guy is endless. It would be like comparing a pond to an ocean, that's how much of a difference there is."

"Nuh-uh no way! That would make him like a _MONSTER_-nin or something!"

"_*sigh* _……………I'm tired. Common Choji; I'll get you some chips if you come cloud-watching with me."

"SURE!_*munch gulp_*"

"Men!"

Hiroto chuckled as he walked into the room; Shikamaru was still too smart and perceptive for his own good and Choji was still a glutton when it came to food. As for Ino…….he could never understand why Ino and Sakura were rivals when they were younger; they were like twins. Shaking his head he re-directed his attention to the shinobi before him, auburn hair tied into a high ponytail, bright chocolate eyes twinkling good-naturedly above a scar that ran length-wise across the man's face.

"Hello! I don't think I've seen you before; my name's Umino Iruka. You are….?"

"Kobayashi Hiroto, but Hiroto's fine. I'm guessing that the Graduation Exams were today?"

Iruka eyed Hiroto in mild surprise as the other man smiled disarmingly.

"How did you know?"

"Other than the fact that every two seconds there was someone yelling out how it was taking too long? A young boy in an orange jumpsuit bumped into me running from the class room. He seemed pretty upset and I myself can only think of a few reasons as to why a kid like him would run out like that."

"Naruto's a good kid, really. It's just that because of certain _"circumstances"_ he has to prove himself more than the others."

Hiroto was quiet for so long that Iruka placed a concerned hand on his shoulder, though Hiroto noted wryly that it contained enough strength to crush his arm if he so much as made a sudden move. Smiling gently at Iruka he removed the man's hand from his shoulder, laughing at the shocked frustration that crossed Iruka's face.

"Don't worry Umino-san; I don't want to hurt Naruto. On the contrary; I want to help him."

"Help him? How can you help him?"

Hiroto smiled sadly; this is where his acting came into play.

"His father—Namikaze Minato—was my uncle. As a result, he is my cousin."

Iruka stared at Hiroto, only coming out of it when Sarutobi called his name.

"Ah there you are Iruka. I see that you've already met Hiroto-kun; that will make things a little easier. Hiroto-kun, why don't you go look for Kakashi now while I fill Iruka in ok?"

Hiroto bowed before walking away; he knew that this wasn't the time to be arguing. Besides, Sarutobi could probably explain this better than he ever could. With bored ease Hiroto Hiraishined to the Memorial Stone, waiting for a couple of minutes before clearing his throat and approaching Kakashi slowly.

"Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi started a bit at his name, though when he identified whose chakra it was he relaxed a bit, motioning for Hiroto to come closer. They stood in silence for a time, each lost in their own memories of the past.

"So what are we to call you two?"

"……….Kobayashi Hiroto and Tsukino Ayaka. I'm a former Hoshi-nin who was just recently given permission to contact my cousin, Uzumaki Naruto, while Ayaka is the daughter of members of the Blood resistance."

"Good cover; it allows you to be close to him too."

"Kakashi-san?"

"Hm?"

"………………………Whatever happens tonight; DON'T go after Naruto, ok?"

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow in question, looking over to Hiroto only to find him gone, not even the swirling of leaves betraying his movement.

'_Alright Hiroto; I'll trust you for tonight, but tomorrow I want an explanation.' _

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hiroto was currently enjoying himself with his 23rd bowl at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, another 5 waiting in line. Quickly finishing off the last bowls, Hiroto sighed contentedly and sat back. It had been 12 years since he had last had a bowl of ramen; he was entitled to a little self indulgence for Kami's sake!

The sun was setting as Hiroto paid for his ramen, walking out with a contented smile on his face while the others watched him leave bemusedly.

"He eats as much as Naruto-kun does."

Hiroto smiled at that, not noticing the streaking silver blur until it was too late. They went down in a heap of limbs and silver-yellow hair, neither moving as they tried to regain their breath. The silver blur moved first, holding a hand down to Hiroto.

"Sorry about that. I was looking for Naruto."

Hiroto stiffened imperceptibly at the statement; he knew who the man was without even having to look at him.

"It's ok Mizuki-san. What did Naruto get into this time?"

Mizuki looked at Hiroto with an odd look, like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"Ok;……………so you know my name, but I don't know yours. Have we met before?"

Hiroto chuckled; this guy wanted to use the scroll and he was _THIS_ dense?

"My name is Hiroto. I was in ANBU until just recently so…."

"Oh; got it………………. Hey; maybe you can help me."

"…………With what?"

"Naruto stole the Scroll of Sealing just a while ago; everyone has been searching for him. It's actually caused a mild panic."

"Sounds serious………………. I'm in; where do you suggest we look?"

"I was thinking that Naruto might be at this little shack he overheard me talking to Iruka about out in the woods; it's out of the way and no one really knows about it other than me."

'_A perfect place to kill the younger me eh, Mizuki-sensei?'_

"Where is it?"

"Come; this way!"

Hiroto fell in behind Mizuki, his mind working furiously to come up with a plan that would allow him to take down the traitor without letting Iruka or his younger self be hurt. Coming up on the shack, Hiroto could hear Naruto and Iruka talking. Holding his hand up to signal Hiroto so stop, Mizuki fell back to his position, whispering in his ear to keep Naruto and Iruka from overhearing.

"I'm going to get the scroll back from Naruto. Iruka must be the one who told Naruto of both the scroll and of this place. The stealing of the scroll is punishable by death for that scroll contains all of the villages' darkest secrets and if we bring it back safely, we will be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams."

Hiroto nodded his head so it seemed like he was agreeing with Mizuki; in reality he was seething.

'_How DARE he implicate Iruka, much less me! Death is too kind a fate for this—this snake!' _

As soon as Mizuki appeared to the others he put his plan into action, using the Hiraishin to get in front of Iruka and block the kunai. His head snapped up as he heard Mizuki draw breath for a question, eyes narrowing dangerously as that same breath became caught in his throat, the burning hatred in Hiroto's eyes not lost on the shinobi.

"How dare you try to hurt my friends and family!"

He hissed; his muscled frame quivered with the effort of self-restraint, so great was his rage. Mizuki—at this point—had lost all common sense and threw a shuriken at Naruto in desperation, a strangled sob escaping his throat as Hiroto caught it neatly in one swift movement and threw it back at the terrified man, neatly embedding the weapon a hairs breadth from his face.

Turning to Naruto, Hiroto smiled widely as he caught sight of Naruto's expression.

"Why don't you use your new jutsu on him cousin?"

There was complete silence as Naruto and Mizuki processed this and then………

"C-cousin?! Are you serious?!?!" (A/N: Said by both Mizuki and Naruto)

"Never been more serious in my life. You can yell at me later about how I haven't been there for you; now, however, I think that we would both agree that Mizuki needs to be given a beat-down."

"Oh come on! Do you even know what that brat is?! He's a demon; a killer! He is the container for the 9-tailed fox!"

Naruto froze while Iruka yelled at Mizuki for revealing an S-class secret. The boy looked ready to bolt until he caught his _'cousins' _words, tears pouring from his eyes as he understood their meaning.

"So?........So what if he's the container for the Kyuubi? That is not who_ NARUTO_ is. He's impulsive, arrogant, determined, a little more than insecure and a total knuckle-head. But if there is one thing I do know about _MY_ cousin, it's that he is_ NOT_ a demon. He is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage, and a true example of a Konohakagure shinobi."

Naruto sank to his knees as a flood of emotions threatened to drown him, barely catching Mizuki's movement as the rogue shinobi aimed shuriken at both Iruka's and Hiroto's throats.

"No! Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Smoke billowed throughout the clearing as hundred of clones materialized in front of one very confused shinobi, one confused and terrified shinobi, and one very smug and proud shinobi, blocking the shuriken in the process.

"Try to hurt Nii-chan or Iruka-sensei again…..And I'll _KILL _you!"

All of the Naruto clones launched themselves at Mizuki, who got the beat-down of his life as Iruka and Hiroto looked on proudly. After Hiroto tied up the now unconcous Mizuki Iruka asked Naruto to close his eyes. The boy squirmed nervously as he felt Iruka remove his goggles and do something to his forehead before replacing them, his curiosity almost getting the better of him, though he managed to contain it—but barely.

"Ok Naruto; open your eyes!"

Slowly Naruto opened his eyes to find both Iruka and Hiroto smiling at him proudly. Confusion marked the boys face until he noticed that Iruka wasn't wearing a hitai-ite and his hand flew up to his forehead were trembling fingers traced the out-line of a metal plate with the Konoha leaf symbol in the center.

"Congratulations Naruto; you've passed!"

Naruto's face split into a wide grin before he tackled Iruka to the ground, hugging the man while thanking him over and over again. Suddenly he stopped before getting up and running over to Hiroto, staring at the man for a minute before sucker punching him in the gut.

"Naruto ho-…!?"

"WHY DID YOU TAKE SO FRIGGIN LONG?! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONELY I WAS?!"

Sobbing the boy collapsed into the older blondes arms, who smiled sadly before cradling the boy into his lap, crooning softly into flaxen hair as the boy let all of his pain and fear rush out in one continuous cry, pulling the boy back as he felt the tears and grip lessen. Naruto looked up to the man's eyes, surprised to find tears flowing freely there as well.

"I couldn't Naruto; if I had contacted you before the council had given me permission, we would both be dead right now. They wanted to control you; Mizuki was right when he said that you were a demon, for that's what everyone older than 18 remembers you as except for a select few; like Iruka, old man Hokage, and Kakashi-san. But, and it's a big BUT; hopefully, with my help, we can make them see the _PERSON_ that you are instead of the monster you keep sealed."

Naruto hugged Hiroto to himself as he cried again; not in fear, but in relief that someone finally saw him for _HIM_. After a while he pushed away from Hiroto's chest, an embarrassed blush working its way onto his cheeks.

"Ano…..I just realized; what is your name?"

Hiroto threw his head back and laughed to which Naruto gave an indignant "Hey!" before dissolving into laughter himself. Ruffling the boy's hair, Hiroto dodged a playful punch before answering.

"My name is Kobayashi-Namikaze Hiroto. My mother was your father's older sister."

"…….May I call you Hiro-nii?"

"_*chuckle* _Only if I can call you Naru-kun."

"Deal!"

Hiroto chuckled again, shaking his head as he noticed Iruka's wolf-like grin in the background. Pushing Naruto off him, Hiroto stood up before turning to lend a hand.

"I can tell you more over some celebratory ramen if you like?"

Naruto grinned, jumping up and pumping his fist high into the air as he dashed towards the direction of the ramen stand.

"Hell ya! Here I come Ramen! Whoo!"

Laughing, Iruka and Hiroto dashed off to catch up with Naruto, neither one aware of the old man who watched over them with a smile threw a crystal ball.

* * *

Fea: OMG! I can't believe how long this chapter is! Why is it so long?!

Naruto & Hiroto: Cause you put a lot of emotional girly stuff in the beginning.

Fea: I DID NOT!!

Naruto/Hiroto: Yes you did!

Fea: JIRAYA-KUN!

Jiraya: Yes fair maiden?

Fea: I'll let you kiss me if you get them to shut up.

Jiraya: *drools* It shall be done! (goes and beats the poo outta Naruto and Hiroto)

Fea: While he's doing that, please REVIEW! Constructive criticism is helpful! No flaming unless you want the tiger seal up your ass…….Anyways: PLEASE REVIEW AND STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!! BYE NOW! XD


	5. Henkou

_**DISCLAIMER**__**: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!!! **_

_*sigh*_ If you haven't figured this out from the other_ 4 FLIPPING CHAPTERS _I posted the same disclaimer on, then know that I have given up all hope of your sanity. For those who_ HAVE_ figured it out; I applaud you on using the thing between your ears.

Anyway, I wanna thank these people for making it such a joy to write this:

Sanz0girl

Stormraven

Nvgurl

Geetac

Oubli

gullie89

Malevolent Onyx Dragon

Lejenn

Kathie-Rin

.girl

DeSyvPlager

Theresa of the Faint Smile

GetOutOfMyWayGirl

Crimson-Cataracts

Schookums: Thanks! This chapter has a lot of changes, so I hope you like!

Cory Chung

Ataksuki-tenshi-kitsune: Random question; your name means "Red Dawn Angel Fox" right? THANK YOU for the support!

XxNaruto-SasukexX

Hagarashi-Kitsu

Sarah 778

Ztanita: I'm glad you liked the last chapter; it took me two nights of staying up until 12:30 to complete it. I hope you still like the story after this chapter; it's the 1st one with a MAJOR change from the original storyline.

They call me kitten: I knew that; seriously. It's just that sometimes my brain gets scrambled from typing so much. I try and read the story to check for accuracy now, but I will not be so obsessed as to look up everything. Forgive my laziness. I thank you that you like how I put a different twist on the whole "Going back in time" theme.

Miss Lesely

Shadows of Avalon

DOMO!!!!

* * *

Hiroto stretched as the sun crested over the horizon; he had been getting up at sunrise for years, and some habits die harder than others. This was one of them.

Making breakfast with the groceries he had bought yesterday, Hiroto laughed as he thought over yesterday's events.

"What are you laughing about~?"

Naruto whined, plodding into the kitchen while yawning hugely.

"I was just remembering the look on Ebisu-san's face when you did your-*clears throat*—your Harem Jutsu."

Naruto stared at Hiroto before grinning hugely, plopping himself down on a chair as Hiroto placed a plate of pancakes in front of the hyperactive blonde along with a _FRESH_ glass of milk. He remembered the stomach-ache he had gotten because of that dumb glass of milk and he was _NOT_ letting it happen again. Hiroto sat down with a plate and glass for himself and began to eat as they (Naruto) asked each other (Him; Hiroto) questions.

"So what are you going to do today Hiro-nii?"

"I've got to meet my new team today, remember?"

Naruto nodded his head rapidly.

As if he could forget; today was Graduation Day!

Happily Naruto wolfed down the remainder of his food and ran into his room to get ready; he didn't want to be late! Hiroto grinned as he heard his younger self bang around the room in his haste to get ready, wincing sympathetically as there was a loud crash followed by a mumbled curse.

"You alright Naru-kun?!"

"Yea I'm fine! Thanks for asking!"

Hiroto chuckled as he returned to doing the dishes; he had only been with his younger self for a day and he could already tell the difference. Naruto's happiness had a deeper quality to it, as if he was truly happy even within the furthest reaches of his heart;……… having someone who truly cared about you could do that to a person.

'_Kakashi………Will I ever see MINE again? _

_I wonder…………No! The Kakashi of this time is to remain to THIS TIME; I cannot mess with it too much, despite my loneness.' _

Hiroto had no doubt that Ayaka was having just as much trouble—if not more so—than he was with Rock Lee; after all, if he was missing his lover that badly, just imagine how badly she was missing her husband and child.

Smiling wryly Hiroto finished up the dishes, calling to Naruto to hurry up his slow ass before putting on his trench coat and striding out the door, smiling as Naruto yelled at him to slow down while he locked the door.

Hiroto set a slow pace, content to just talk with Naruto as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Reaching the school, Hiroto told Naruto to wait a second as he Haraishined somewhere, refusing to tell Naruto were he had gone when he reappeared. Ushering the now sulking boy into the classroom, Hiroto stationed himself next to the door, smirking as he deliberately used the Kōha within their field of vision to make himself invisible, the gasps and outbursts of chatter amusing.

Hiroto groaned quietly as he noticed Naruto make his way over to kneel in front of Sasuke, eyeing the Uchiha critically. In debating whether or not to save him from embarrassment—and subsequent ass-kicking—the decision was taken out of his hands when the boy behind him suddenly moved, shoving Naruto into Sasuke, who just happened to look up at that exact moment.

'_*sweat drop* Not again; I was scared enough the FIRST time!' _

Wincing as he watched Naruto's beat-down, Hiroto decided to help both Naruto and Sasuke—Kami knows half the reason he left is because of all the stupid fangirls—by scaring the shyte out of younger Sakura; later.

Moving to that he was standing in the middle of the rows, Hiroto watched as Iruka came in, raising his eyebrow fractionally as he noticed that Iruka's eyes lingered a half-second too long on a particular Uchiha as he scanned the room.

'_Interesting……….. Maybe I can use this to my advantage.' _

Satisfied that nothing was out of the ordinary—to his eyes anyway—Iruka turned and grabbed a clipboard before leveling a stern look at the classroom, getting everyone to quiet down before speaking.

"Okay! In my hand here I have the official Team Roster! When I call your team number and your names, get next to your teammates! Your sensei's will be here shortly, understand?"

Everyone mumbled or shouted their agreement, eager to find out their teams and sensei's so that they could FINALLY go on their first mission. As Iruka went down the list Hiroto noticed that Naruto became increasingly edgy; it looked like he was going to jump out of his skin at any moment. Finally Iruka got to Team 7.

"……Team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Team 8:….."

Hiroto chuckled; he hadn't known that it would be _QUITE_ this entertaining watching his younger self. When Sakura's name had been mentioned he had been hopeful, when his name had been said he looked positively ecstatic, and when Sasuke's name had been mentioned he got this look on his face that plainly said that he thought the world was going to end.

Waiting until Iruka was done announcing the teams, Hiroto situated himself so that he was sitting cross-legged on the ceiling, dispelling the Kōha right after the last word left his mouth. A few of the girls squealed and pointed while some of the boys gave out "whoa's" while instinctively pulling back. Hiroto raised his arm and waived, looking for all the world like a cat that just ate the canary.

"Yo!"

"Hiroto! What are you doing here?"

Hiroto could feel Shikamaru's suspicious glance boring into him from where he sat as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

'_Yup it's official; the guy's WAY too smart for his own good.' _

"I forgot to tell you the day before because of our_ 'interruption'_; but I'm a co-sensei for one of the teams this year."

"Really? Which one?"

Hiroto shrugged, even though he knew the answer.

"Whatever one Hakate Kakashi is mentoring."

Several of the gathered genin gasped; Hakate Kakashi was going to be a sensei?! Several of the girls squealed; they hoped that he would be the sensei for_ THEIR _team! Grinning Hiroto detached himself from the ceiling, flipping around and landing on the ground with the silence and grace of a cat. Stretching as he stood up, Hiroto grinned internally as some of the girls squealed at his muscles before slinking over to Iruka and nailing him down with a lazy cerulean eye before speaking.

"So what did you and the Hokage talk about, if you don't mind me asking?"

Iruka rubbed the back of his head, smiling as Hiroto looked at him questioningly.

"He told me about your _"true" _intentions. Apparently I'm near enough to the heart of the matter that he felt he should_ "Enlighten" _me so that I didn't freak out when you did something unexpected."

Hiroto smiled sadly, placing a hand on Iruka's shoulder and squeezing gently.

"You are the last person I wanted to burden with news like that."

"It's no trouble; if anything, please come to me when you need to talk. My home and classroom will always be open."

"*chuckle* You're still the same Iruka-sensei……………Thank You."

Iruka bowed his head slightly, a large grin on his face. Hiroto returned the bow before sighing, turning to the three genin on Asuma's team before speaking.

"If you even _DARE_ try to use your Mind Possession Jutsu on me one more time, Yamanaka Ino, I will have no choice but to use it on_ YOU_. There are things that you are _NOT_ privileged enough to know and never will unless the Hokage decides to tell you_ HIMSELF_………….Oh and Nara? Using the Shadow Possession on me is useless if I decide that Yamanaka has become too—ambitious—for her own good ; don't even try."

Everyone stared at the genin and Hiroto in turn; the genin for being stupid enough to try something on a _JOUNIN_ and Hiroto for being so damn casual—and a little cold—about it.

Ino shuddered as his icy gaze bored into her, lowering her head in shame. Shikamaru looked surprised: how did he know what he was planning to do if the blonde went after—well—the blonde, though one was clearly dumber than the other, despite first impressions.

Heads turned as the door opened and a jounin walked into the room, an unlit cigarette held loosely in his mouth, short black hair sticking up at an angle from his head. Taking a breath, he addressed the class in a deep, booming voice which belied the good-natured gleam in his dark eyes.

"Nara, Yamanaka, Akamichi! You're with me! My name is Sarutobi Asuma."

Everyone gasped and started talking at once.

"A Sarutobi? No way!"

"You guys are so lucky!"

"You guys get the son of the Hokage; _AWESOME_!!"

Hiroto raised an eyebrow as the comments continued.

'_They change their minds faster than the falling of autumn leaves.' _

Signaling to Asuma, Hiroto ignored the pleading look Ino cast his way as he lead the confused man out into the hallway, closing the door behind them. A few minutes passed in uncomfortable silence as everyone stared at the door, waiting for Asuma's reaction.

When they re-entered the room a few seconds later, the solidly built man leveled a stern gaze in Ino's direction, signaling for his team to follow after a moment's silence. After they left, Hiroto let out his breath in a long sigh, running his hand through his air before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I did _NOT_ enjoy doing that."

Naruto approached Hiroto slowly, hugging him as he smiled and beckoned the young boy closer. He held him for a short time, pulling away to look at the remaining genin, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Let this be a lesson to you all. Things are classified and kept secret not to keep you out of the loop or make you feel like you aren't worthy, but to protect you and to assure that you have the skills necessary to_ PROTECT_ those secrets before they are given to you…….

Do you know why Jounin's and ANBU are the ones that disappear the most? It is because they know the most secrets and some villages will do _WHATEVER_ it takes to bring Konoha to its knees; even going as far as to totally disregard human life.

The death of an experienced shinobi is hard enough; the death of a young one whose life is just beginning is far worse."

Clapping came from the direction of the door, and everyone turned to find a small group of people standing just within the doorway.

"………Well said Kobayashi-san; well said……… If you don't mind my asking, what is your connection to Naruto-kun?"

Hiroto smiled, flicking Naruto lightly on the forehead before speaking.

"The knuckle-head is my little cousin; his dad was my uncle."

"Hiro-nii is _AWESOME_, BELIEVE IT!"

"………Well; you two certainly look alike, if nothing else. But I'm distracting myself; Aburame, Hyuuga, Inuzuka; you're with me! My name's Kurenai and I'll be your sensei; though it looks like you got your first lesson on being a shinobi from Kobayashi-sensei instead of me."

"Please Kurenai-sensei; Hiroto or Hiroto-sensei is just fine."

Kurenai nodded her head; her dark curly hair forming a curtain across her red eyes before turning to her team.

"Follow me!"

Slowly the classroom emptied as more Jounin's came to pick up their teams, the last few genin's eyeing Team 7 jealously as they realized that the three would be getting Hiroto-sensei _AND_ Kakashi-sensei; some people go all the luck.

Hours passed as they tried to find ways to entertain themselves, Hiroto finally getting fed up and taking them outside, asking them to show him their most advanced jutsu, sighing as he realized just _HOW _dysfunctional they were as a team, let alone as individual shinobi.

"Okay; there are a couple of things you need to realize. First; I can and probably will be your friend, but do _NOT _expect me to go easy on you. Especially you Naruto; if you want to become Hokage someday, you're going to need to work ten times harder than anyone else.

Uchiha! Just because you're the last of an important family don't expect me to give you any special treatment; I know what your ambition is and I know why you wish to do so; before I learned about Naruto, my ……….family had thought to be totally annihilated in a……..worse…….. manner."

"Tch; what could be worse than that?"

Hiroto sighed before kneeling so that he could bring his mouth to Sasuke's ear, focusing on a spot behind him while speaking.

"I can only imagine the pain you felt, unable to stand against him as he decimated your family; but try to imagine mine when I tell you that I had the power to protect my family, but because of sheer numbers, I was forced back and forced to fight by myself in a sea of enemies as I heard their screams rang out. And when I finally broke through the enemy line in order to help them;…….I watched in horror as the person I loved the most was literally eaten _ALIVE_ from the waist down; the poison they had injected him with kept him alive even after losing almost all of his blood.

He lived long enough to cry tears of _BLOOD_ as he apologized for not being strong enough before dying in my arms……….I know that you desire retribution; you probably deserve it. But remember this; I couldn't have avenged my family—no matter _HOW_ powerful I was, no matter how many powerful or forbidden jutsu's I knew—without the help of friends.

They are the ones who helped me keep my sanity, helped me to remember why I was avenging them; without them, I would have lost myself to the darkness and become just as bad, if not _WORSE_, than the ones who killed them in the first place.

No matter what,_ NEVER_ abandon those who care about you or you'll end up worse than the ones you hate."

Sasuke stared at Hiroto as he pulled away, hesitantly nodding his head as the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Think about it for a while, okay?"

"Yes Hiroto-sensei."

"Thank you. Sakura!"

"Hai Hiroto-sensei?!"

"I'm going to say this bluntly; focus on being a shinobi and less of a fangirl………Understand?"

"What?"

"*sigh*Fine……STOP……..STALKING…….SASUKE….If he liked you, don't you think he would've said so by now? Don't worry; I asked Asuma to talk to Ino about it too."

Hiroto paused as he noticed that they were staring at him with an expression akin to awe and a little fear. Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he sank down on the tree-swing; the three genin slowly walking up to him, concern written on their faces. The blonde man smiled wryly before speaking.

"I'm sorry; I've seen so much death in my life—far more than any person ever _SHOULD_, even as a shinobi………….I-I just don't want to add you guys to list of people that I can only see in my memories; that's all."

Sasuke grunted before lightly tapping Hiroto between the eyes, giving a hesitant smile as he looked up.

"Don't worry about it; too much. You gave me some interesting things to think about; maybe not in the way you could _HAVE_, but you got through to me……….You know; your pretty cool, for a jounin."

Hiroto laughed at Sasuke's statement, grinning as the raven haired boy rolled his eyes before smirking. Looking to Sakura, Hiroto cocked his head as she stared at him strangely. Suddenly smiling, she playfully punched him on the arm, giggling as he stared at her in confusion.

"You made me realize how……how weird I had been acting! Yea I like Sasuke, but I shouldn't let that get in the way of my other dream; to become a great Kunoichi. You reminded me of that; thank you…….I know this is going to sound weird but;…..group hug?"

Hiroto smiled.

"Only if the others want to too."

"What do you say guys?"

"Sure!"

"….I guess."

Hiroto smiled warmly as all three genin hugged him, returning the embrace briefly before using the Hiraishin to end up on the roof, poking Sakura on the head as he did so.

"We're going to play Shinobi Tag. Unlike regular tag, you must use all the skills you have learned as shinobi so far to tag the others and avoid being tagged. The first one who manages to tag me can ask me to buy one thing for them; it doesn't matter what it is as long as it's not something you would have to sell your soul to get. Stay within the school grounds; a smaller area will force your reflexes to become sharper.

Oh! No jutsu's; I don't know about you, but I don't want to be lectured by Iruka-sensei for destroying school property, do you?"

All three quickly shook their heads; Iruka was kind of scary and more than a little creepy when he got angry.

"We'll do this until Kakashi-sensei finally decides to show up, ok?

Ready?..................GO!"

The four shinobi took off, laughter and shouts of frustration ringing out as they dodged, twisted and attacked as the genin tried to get their sensei and each other, though with the Hiraishin Hiroto had an unfair advantage. When Sakura pointed this out however—after failing to tag Hiroto from an inch away for the fifth time—he just shrugged.

"Do you think that an enemy shinobi is going to slow up just because he notices that you're slower than him? Even if you can't out man him, out power him or out run him there is one thing you can do; out think him.

That's enough for today; in case you guys didn't notice, Kakashi-sensei arrived 15 minutes ago.

Another important lesson; always be aware of your surroundings, no matter the situation."

Disappointed that they couldn't get Hiroto-sensei to buy them anything the genin nodded their heads and turned their attention to the silver-haired shinobi, who had been watching them from over the top of his book for the past fifteen minutes; he was impressed with Hiroto. While a little '_unorthodox_' in his methods, he was teaching them valuable lessons while letting them be the kids they were.

Closing his book, Kakashi stretched before taking a good look at his team, surprisingly pleased with what he found there.

"Okay; I think the first thing we should do is get to know each other. How about; name, age, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams……you know; the basics. Yes Sakura?"

"Could the sensei's go first and show us how it's done?"

"Sure; let's see….. My name is Hakate Kakashi, 26 years old. My likes and dislikes are none of your business and as for my hobbies and dreams; you don't need to know."

Hiroto rolled his eyes and shook his head at Kakashi's _'example'_.

'_Same old Kakashi.' _

"My name is Kobayashi-Namikaze Hiroto, 26 years old. I like ramen, Naru-kun, shogi, and protecting those important to me. I dislike anyone who would hurt my important people, bad tasting medicine, a certain snake, and people who think that their somehow 'superior' to everyone else.

My hobbies are training, shogi, cooking, trying to create new jutsu's and just hanging out with friends and my dreams are to protect everyone I possibly can, kill a certain idiotic old man, and someday end the Shinobi Wars once and for all……Your next, Naru-kun."

"Alright! My name is U—wait!

My name is **Namikaze**-Uzumaki Naruto, 12 years old! I like ramen, Hiro-nii, sleeping in and training. I dislike waking up early, people who say bad things about me behind my back and people who judge me before they even get the chance to know me.

My hobbies are trying out the new kinds of ramen, seeing how late I can sleep in and kicking bad guys' butts. My DREAM is to one day become Hokage so that everyone will recognize me, Believe it!"

Naruto pumped his fist into the air and Hiroto shook his head ruefully before turning to the Uchiha.

"You're next Sasuke."

"Hn……..Uchiha Sasuke, 12 years old. My likes are Hiroto-sensei and training.

Maybe Naruto-teme.

My dislikes are fangirls, a certain missing nin and being powerless.

My hobbies are training and star-gazing. My dreams are to kill a certain missing nin to avenge my family and revive the Uchiha Clan."

Hiroto nodded; they were still a little dark for a 12-year-old boy, but at least they weren't_** AS**_ revenge-oriented as the first time.

"What about you Sakura?"

"Hai! Haruno Sakura, 12 years old. My likes are Sasuke-kun, flower arranging, and jutsu's that use chakra control. My dislikes are Ino-pig, being made fun of for my forehead and everyone thinking I'm weak just because I'm a girl. My hobbies are studying, using my brain and flower arranging. My dream……is to become the greatest kunoichi ever."

'_Thank you KAMI! No fangirl syndrome; whoo!' _

Hiroto let out a sigh of relief, looking to Kakashi as for what to do next. Kakashi nodded his head slowly; these kids actually had something between their ears, though it wasn't very apparent yet.

"My first impression of you guys is………..you aren't _THAT_ stupid. That will be all for today; meet at training ground 8 at 6 a.m sharp tomorrow. Oh; don't eat anything tomorrow morning, you'll just throw it back up. Dismissed."

Before Kakashi could poof away he felt Hiroto's hand on his shoulder and was about to ask what he had on his mind when Sasuke walked up to the two jounin.

"……Hiroto-sensei?"

"Yea Sasuke?"

"Could I……..could I talk to you about what you told me earlier?"

Hiroto smiled wanly; he had a feeling that's what he wanted.

"I've got to talk to Kakashi-sensei about tomorrow……….How about you follow Naru-kun home and wait for me there? I'll only be a couple of minutes and that way we have somewhere private to talk, okay?"

Sasuke nodded his head as Hiroto called Naruto over who nodded eagerly once it was explained to him, starting his own game of Shinobi Tag, laughing as Sasuke irritably took off after him. Chuckling, Hiroto turned back to face Kakashi, flicking him on his forehead protector when he noticed he was reading that perverted book.

"So I take it you ignored my note, eh Kakashi?"

"What can I say; I lost track of time."

"…..Reminiscing and trying to live the past in the present are two completely different things Kakashi. None of them would want you to live like this; if anything, they would want you to live your life fully and brightly enough for all of them. You know how I know; don't ask……….

In fact; it was you who originally told me that near the beginning of the war."

"……..Who did you lose?"

"The Sand Siblings; Subaku no Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. All three the children of the current Kazekage."

"Why them?"

"…………Because I recognized a fellow spirit in Gaara……..

I could have easily ended up like him; a Jinchūriki for the Ichibi, the constant loneliness and threats on his life made him unfeeling and cold, made him the monster that everyone was convinced he was. His blood-lust was terrifying; he lived, loved, and fought only for himself, killing others to prove he was alive, to prove his existence.

It wasn't until I showed him the light and love of friends; of those who supported you no matter what and the power that came from wanting to protect that light that he began to change. *hn*……..

He becomes Kazekage before me; he's only 16 when he takes up the title. He—he was one of the first true friends I had and it nearly broke me to lose such a big source of support; he truly understood what it was like to be a Jinchūriki, and that made him all the more dear to me for it…….

I should get going; I'll see you tomorrow."

Hiroto Hiraishined to Naruto's apartment, listening silently as the blonde told Sasuke about the way people treated him and how this was the best—not to mention the only—living space he could ever hope to get. Deciding now was as good a time as any to interrupt, Hiroto walked in the door, nearly falling over as Naruto fairly glomped him, Sasuke rolling his eyes and smirking in the background at the young blondes antics.

Sensing Sasuke's need to talk just between the two of them, Hiroto sent Naruto down Ichiraku's with enough money for 30 bowls; the hyper-active boy was ecstatic as he fairly flew out the door and down the stairs, his laughter brightening the fading daylight. Smiling Hiroto turned to Sasuke, who rubbed the back of his neck nervously before speaking.

"I-I've been thinking about what you said earlier today. While not everything makes sense to me right now, I do realize one thing; _I'm slipping_.

Every time I'm left alone, every time someone refers to me as _"The Last Uchiha"_ or _"The Survivor of the Uchiha Massacre"_ I lose a little bit more of who I am. It's like no one sees _ME_; they see a reminder of a grievous event, of the loss of a great power, but not a reminder of the loss of _PEOPLE_.

Its—It's like my family was nothing more than a weapon for the village to be discarded at the first sign of wear."

Hiroto gave a small sound of distress and pulled the young Uchiha into his arms, stroking his back slowly as the boy sobbed silently into his chest. Once he felt the boys shaking lessen, Hiroto pulled him back, wiping away tears as he stared into deep, sorrowful black eyes.

"I'm going to tell you a secret Sasuke; you could be severely punished—even killed—if anyone finds out that you know. Can I trust you to keep silent?"

Sasuke nodded as he dried his eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths before regaining his composure. Hiroto sighed; Naruto would kill him if he knew that Hiroto was telling, but he instinctively felt that it was the right thing to do, telling Sasuke.

"You know the Kyuubi; the Nine-tailed fox that attacked the village 12 years ago?"

"Hn."

"Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato, was the Yondaime Hokage. In order to save the village, he sealed the Kyuubi within his newborn son's body, dying in the process. In order to protect him from being targeted for being the container _AND_ being the Hokage's son, he had it so that the boy carried his mother's name; Uzumaki. His last wish was that Naruto be regarded as a hero; the boy gave up the chance at ever being normal so that he could save the lives of everyone in the village.

Unfortunately the Yondaime's last wish was to go ungranted; people feared the small boy and the monster sealed within him. They feared that the Kyuubi would take over Naruto's body and once again wreck havoc on the village; in their fear, they completely shunned the boy, giving him the most rotten food, the most broken toys, clothes that didn't fit; glares colder than ice.

In fact; it was only because the Sandaime protected the boy so avidly that he wasn't targeted by assassins as well, though he was beaten more times than he cares or wants to recall……….It wasn't until he met Iruka-sensei at 10 years of age that he was accepted; that he was treated normally. Can you imagine what it was like, not getting your first hug or word of encouragement until you were 10?"

Sasuke looked at Hiroto in shocked silence as the blonde sighed. After a couple minutes of silence Sasuke spoke again.

"How did he_ NOT_ go crazy?"

"…..I'd like to think that he received enough warmth from the Sandaime, however distant, that he was able to hold on—though barely—until he met Iruka-sensei."

"I wonder…………."

Before Hiroto could ask what Sasuke meant Naruto burst back into the apartment, a blissful grin on his face.

"So…..much….. _RAMEN_! Thank You Hiro-nii!"

Hiroto smiled and ruffled the spiky blonde hair, both of the blondes snapping their attention to the normally stoic Uchiha as he cleared his throat before speaking.

"I was wondering; would you two like to come and live with me? I mean; it's okay if you don't, it's just that………..It's so lonely, being in that large complex by yourself, and it would certainly give you better living spaces than what you have now………………………"

Hiroto and Naruto were silent for so long that he was about to say forget it when Naruto nodded his head, as if deciding something, before standing and placing his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, smiling gently as the Uchiha looked at him questioningly.

"Hiro-nii told you about the Kyuubi, didn't he?"

Sasuke started before nodding, holding his hand up before Naruto could voice the question on the tip of his tongue.

"No, I do _NOT_ mind; in fact it's one of the reasons I decided to ask you to come."

Naruto grinned before hugging Sasuke fiercely, unshed tears bright within his eyes.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go home."

Sasuke smiled exuberantly before pausing.

"What about your stuff?"

"Eh; there isn't a lot I actually need to take with me; I can be packed with everything I want to take in 10 minutes."

"Then why don't you get to it; I can talk to Hiro-nii while you're doing it."

"Yosha! I won't be long!"

Naruto ran into his room, the sound of an opening suitcase and boyish feet that ran from corner to corner bringing a smile to Hiroto's lips; this Naruto's future was certainly looking much brighter than his own.

"I hope you don't mind me calling you Hiro-nii as well; do you?"

Hiroto snapped his attention back to the raven-haired boy, smirking mischievously.

"One condition; you can't get mad when I call you duck-butt, alright?"

"What?! Why that?!"

"Cause the back of your hair reminds me of a duck's butt, that's why. It's either that or Blacky."

Sasuke made a disgusted face, which in turn made Hiroto laugh as he ruffled the boys hair, Hiraishining out of the way when the pissed Uchiha made a swipe at him.

"Blacky's worse than duck-butt; fine. I won't hurt you, but you can't expect me to take a nickname like _THAT _laying down can you?"

Hiroto shook his head, still chuckling from Sasuke's earlier reaction. A few minutes later Naruto came out of his room, pulling a few things from his living room self before zipping up the solitary suitcase, announcing that he was done in a loud voice.

Telling the two boys to go on ahead with the suitcase, Hiroto made sure that everything was packed away and locked up before taking out a scroll and laying it on the table, activating it before placing all the food from the fridge and cupboards onto it, watching lazily as—one by one—they disappeared into the dimensional compartment that the scroll was connected to.

Leaving a note for both Kakashi and the Hokage in case they decided to come by before he had a chance to tell them about the new living arrangements, Hiroto packed up his own meager possessions and walked out of the apartment, locking the door for the last time before exiting the building and turning towards the Uchiha complex;……….his new home, with a new member added to his slowly growing family.

* * *

Fea: Doooo~ooooone!

Hiroto: *gasp pant* I am _NEVER_ making fun of you again.

Fea: Where's Jiraya-kun and Naruto?

Hiroto: Jiraya passed out from a nose-bleed because Naruto used his _EXTREMELLY_ perverted new jutsu on him and Naruto is hiding because he doesn't want to make you mad again.

Fea: Well get him back here; I can't write the flippin story without him.

Hiroto: *sweat drops* I—I'll get right on that.(Leaves)

Fea: Anyway; PLEASE REVIEW! It's not that hard to do; all you do is clicky the button on the bottom and write about what you thought about the story. Bye Bye!


	6. Kokuso

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!!! If I did I would be an insomniac, and even though I'm borderline I still get my sleep thank you!

Sorry for this taking so long; for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to end the chapter—I took two days off to re-coop my brain cells and this is the result! I hope you like!

Now; on to the story!!!!!

* * *

Kakashi groaned before opening his eyes, cursing silently as he saw what time it was before running slender fingers through haphazard silver hair. He had spent half the night in front of the memorial stone, Hiroto's words buzzing around like angry hornets in his head. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he and Hiroto (Older-Naruto) were connected far deeper than merely as sensei and student; when he was around the two knuckle-head's he felt more at home than he had in a_ LONG_ time.

Sighing, Kakashi made to get out of bed before remembering the morning practice; thumping his head back down he groaned loudly into the pillow; he_ REALLY_ had to stop doing that.

'_There is no use hurrying now; knowing Hiroto, he's teaching them while playing some kind of game.' _

Stretching while smiling slightly at the thought of one of his favorite blondes, Kakashi decided he would see how the older version of Sakura was doing before heading over; hopefully she wasn't as big of an airhead as her younger self was. This in mind he got ready for the day, making sure to take an extra copy of Icha-Icha Paradise; just in case. Jumping across the rooftops to were Gai's team trained he sighed; he _NEVER _thought that he would be the one seeking the hyperactive man out.

Usually it was the other way around, the man annoying him so much that he would agree to a game of Jaken(1) just so that he could get the man to do some ridiculous self-imposed punishment so that he would leave him _ALONE_.

Stopping on a tree almost directly above them, Kakashi gave a quick ANBU hand sign when the pink-haired kunoichi snapped her head up.

'_Act normal.' _

Ayaka nodded, dodging Neji's Gentle Fist with deceptive ease before moving too fast for the Hyuuga to re-act, face planting him into a tree a couple of yards away. Smirking she caught Gai's power kick, lifting one eyebrow before easily flinging him off into a couple of bushes nearby, not even moving as all of Tenten's weapons were blocked by an invisible force.

Letting out a fierce war-cry Lee dropped from a tree he had been hiding in, freezing as Ayaka dodged his kick before swinging a chakra laden punch to his face, stopping just before she touched him.

"If _ANY_ of you had been enemy shinobi Neji would have died from the bones of his crushed face lacerating his brain, Gai would have snapped his neck from the high-velocity impact of hitting the ground, Tenten would have been cut in half by an invisible energy, and the back half of Rock Lee's head would be missing from the amount of chakra I had in my fist.

One hit, one kill; the best way to deal with any enemy. Now if you'll excuse me; I want to talk with Kakashi-san before he leaves to deal with his own team. Don't worry; we won't go far."

Walking past the tree were Kakashi was sitting, Ayaka merely raised an eyebrow as he dropped silently and took his position beside her, both of them walking in silence until they came to the river, Ayaka walking out onto it as Kakashi remained on the shore.

"So how is Hiroto?"

"Good; though I think that he's taking over my position as sensei."

Ayaka laughed.

"He could never do that; you're always the sensei Kakashi. Even after the war started we—I would still call you Kakashi-sensei."

"What about him?"

"He would call you 'Kashi; you would call him Naru-kun."

"…..That's what he calls Naruto."

"Does he? *chuckle* It would make sense; calling Naruto what the……other you called _HIM_ so fondly for just—just a few short months."

"Why would he?"

Ayaka was silent for a time as she played with the water, making it bend into fantastic shapes as a far-away look came into her moss-green eyes.

"That……..

That is something for you to ask him yourself. But even if you_ DO _ask him don't expect an answer; some moments are too painful to live more than once; now, if you'll excuse me._ YOU_ are supposed to be giving your team a test right now and I'm still trying to prove to the Hokage as Tsukino Ayaka that I can be trusted.

Why don't we meet at Ichiraku's later? I can guarantee that Gai won't come; though I can't promise the same of his team…….. It would be nice just to relax and talk; Hiroto and I haven't truly done that since the war started 10 years ago."

"Ichiraku's it is. Later, Ayaka-chan."

"Later;……..Kakashi-sensei."

As the two parted, neither one noticed the almost non-existent chakra signature that hid in the bushes; just what had those two been talking about?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Kakashi-sensei is late!!"

Sakura whined, Hiroto shrugging his shoulder before leaning back to watch the clouds; the kids would be tired enough after the test Kakashi had planned for them, he didn't see the reason in tiring them out before then. Smiling softly as his nose caught Kakashi's scent, Hiroto made a signal to the two boys who were hiding in the bushes before reluctantly getting up.

"YOU'RE LATE!!"

Sakura pointed her finger accusingly at the man, Hiroto just shaking his head and smiling wryly as he started to walk up to him.

"SEXY NO JUTSU!!"

A blonde and black blur shot out of the trees, attaching themselves to the jounin that Hiroto had _(innocently)_ trapped within the shadow possession jutsu, the sounds of giggling filling everyone's ears before they finally registered the sight before them.

A pair of young girls stood on either side of Kakashi, their '_assets'_ only covered because they were currently squished against the silver-haired jounin. One had sun-drenched hair that was pulled up into pigtails; the other had hair the color of a ravens wing, soft curls running throughout knee length hair. The jounin froze, his one visible eye wide as the two girls giggled, the blonde standing on her tip-toes so that she could reach his ear.

"What's the matter Kakashi-ku~un?"

"Don't tell me that a big, strong jounin like yourself is afraid of two little girls like us?"

The dark haired girl smirked as the blonde giggled, both of them grabbing an arm and standing to either side of the man. A clone of the blonde popped up and she took a running leap before crashing into the man's chest, quickly kissing a bright red cheek before they let go and backed away. Slowly Kakashi brought a hand to said cheek, the utter disbelief on his face so comical that the boys let the jutsu fall away, Naruto rolling on the ground with laughter while Sasuke chuckled.

Sniggering, Hiroto lightly punched Kakashi to bring him out of his stupor before turning to the two boys.

"That had to be one of THE most_ IMMATURE_ things I've ever seen!.........Buuuuut I'll admit; that's one—ah—provocative way to incapacitate the enemy.

I wouldn't do it unless you know the person though."

Sasuke just smiled as Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically, though both boys paled a bit at the glare Kakashi was giving them. Kakashi was just about to execute a jutsu when he caught Hiroto's eye, who just grinned broadly before shaking his head. Sighing, the silver-haired jounin rolled his eye before pulling two bells out of his pocket, tying them around his belt loop before speaking.

"For today, your test will be to get the bells from me before noon."

Sakura raised her hand, voicing her question as Kakashi looked at her.

"Why are there only two bells?"

"The two who get the bells will be the ones that eat; the one without the bell will be tied to a post and forced to watch as their team-mate watches them. Oh and guys: don't fail. You may have passed the first half of the test at the Academy, but the real test that decides whether or not you'll STAY graduated happens here.

I should also let you know that no team I have sensei'd before has passed; do not let history repeat itself. Now; Ready? GO!"

The three genin shot off into different parts of the forest as the two jounin took up comfortable positions in the center of the field, Kakashi pulling out his Icha-Icha while Hiroto idly twirled his two katana in his fingers, going through the kata's with an almost lethargic grace. After a while the jounin checked on the genin to see how they were doing.

'_I can sense Sasuke and Sakura; they've hidden themselves pretty well. But where is—?' _

"Oi! Kakashi-sensei!"

Said jounin sweat-dropped as the hyperactive boy shouted loudly at him before charging, easily dodging his attacks before setting up a trap that had the knuckle-head swinging upside down from a tree, turning to deflect Sasuke's kunai as the boy used his distraction to attack. After a few failed attempts at kunai Sasuke moved in for close combat, the look on his face growing more and more frustrated as Kakashi lazily blocked every attack.

Kakashi barely caught the chakra signature as Naruto plowed into him from the left, breaking the hold the jounin had on the Uchiha as he went flying, twisting around to land lightly on the ground. Looking up, he noticed that the boys had once again disappeared; the strung up _'Naruto'_ poofing away to reveal a shadow-clone.

'_Not bad; a thousand-years before they could hope to beat me, but not bad. Those two, at least, have potential.' _

Elsewhere Hiroto was watching Sakura with an impish gleam in his blue eyes; the time was ripe to make good on his promise to himself. He knew about the genjutsu that Kakashi had used on Ayaka; but as THIS Sakura had already proven, he would need to be slightly more creative. Going slightly ahead of the girl, Hiroto set up the Kōha, yelling loudly for Sakura before cutting himself off in mid-sentence.

He watched with amusement as the scene folded out before him.

Sakura rushed into the clearing, seeing—not Hiroto, who stood a scant 4 feet in front of her—but a severely beaten and bruised Sasuke, a large hole were his stomach should be. With a cry Sakura rushed to his side, trembling hands hovered in the air above him as she knelt, smiling through tears as Sasuke turned to smile up at her.

"H-hey, Sakura. D-*cough cough* do you think that you could—could heal me?"

Sakura's face fell; she didn't know any Medical Ninjutsu!

"I—I can't Sasuke."

"Don't you love me?"

An unhealthy gleam came to those eyes as they slowly turned red; the nervous kunoichi backing up slightly even as she stuttered out an answer.

"O-of course I—I do;….but I can't. I…!"

"Then you are no longer of use."

The illusion hissed at the terrified girl as Sasuke turned into a black snake with red, piercing eyes; Sakura's eyes went wide and she let out a long, piercing scream before blacking out. Hiroto cursed as he quickly dispelled the jutsu, doing a complete medical spec before sighing in relief; she was terrified out of her mind, but nothing permanently damaging.

Hiroto cursed again as the memories came flooding back; that was _ONE_ thing that he hadn't wanted to happen to this Sakura. The real thing _HAD_ happened to Ayaka 3 years before the end of the war, said woman going into a coma for 5 months from the shock of it all, nearly relapsing as she learned of all those who had died while she had been unconscious.

Hiroto shuddered; he remembered how………..mechanical he had been during those months, not knowing if she would wake up. He had stared at the memorial stone for hours; he had lost his love to the Bukami and had killed his former best friend with his own hands—he didn't know if his sanity could've survived losing the last of his precious people.

Shaking his head, Hiroto forced himself out of those dark thoughts; Ayaka was alive and well and Sakura would wake up shortly before noon.

'_I'm sorry that you—of ALL people—had to relive that with me Sakura…………………..I'll make it up somehow. *sigh* _

_Now; I wonder how Sasuke and Naruto are doing?' _

Hiroto smiled as he thought about that mornings events; waking up an hour earlier than normal, preparing a pb&j for his breakfast before making the obento's for that afternoon's lunch; like he would let his two younger_ "brothers" _go hungry.

A loud crash sounded as Sasuke skidded into the room; the bleary-eyed alarm pausing as he caught a sight of Hiroto, his stance relaxing as he remembered yesterday's events. Those coal eyes grew misty for a moment before the boy vigorously shook his head, mumbling a quick _'Morning'_ to Hiroto before rushing out, headed towards Naruto's room.

Hiroto allowed a small smile to grace his face as he finished preparing the lunches, going to fetch the two boys when he was done, laughing as he found a pissed off Uchiha sitting squarely on the blondes back as he yelled at him for calling him _"duck-butt". _Pulling the boys apart, Hiroto had gently admonished them before leading them to the training grounds, foolishly agreeing to trap Kakashi within the shadow clone possession jutsu to which Naruto made _SURE_ of by threatening to destroy his necklaces, which he artfully produced behind his back before Hiroto snatched them back.

Glaring balefully at the boys, he had agreed; though he had to admit, the way they got back at Kakashi for being late was……………entertaining.

Chuckling, Hiroto Hiraishined back to the main clearing, smiling as Kakashi described the boys' teamwork. Leaning against the tree, Hiroto smiled and nodded as Kakashi asked him if he wanted to go to Ichiraku's after; he already knew the boys next attack—but was interested as to how they would execute it—so he kept quiet. A few minutes later some kunai and a shuriken flew out of the bushes, Hiroto calmly slicing them all in half before raising an eyebrow in Kakashi's direction.

The jounin needed no further direction as he went off to investigate; if it's a two-on-two the kids wanted, it's a two-on-two they would get. Sheathing his katana, Hiroto bent over as if to stretch as something orange went flying over his head, landing on the ground with a painful thump before disappearing.

"Shadow Clone; I would almost be tempted to look behind me if it wasn't for the obvious glint of metal."

Hiroto threw a shuriken in the direction of the light, smirking as he heard a rustle in the bushes behind him.

'_I knew it.' _

"Katon; Fire-ball Jutsu!"

Hiroto turned to see a large fire-ball heading towards him, though he just smirked before holding out his hand, not even bringing any chakra to his palm as he deflected the jutsu, the smirk turning into a grin as he caught sight of the boys surprised faces an instant before Kakashi Head-Huntered them, though he had to roll his eyes at the detail that the silver-haired jounin missed.

"Kakashi; look at the bells."

Looking down, the jounins eye widened before swiping a kunai downward, narrowly saving the bells from being cut off from his belt by a wire attached to the bell-strings, the clone staring with wide eyes before disappearing. Stretching his senses, Hiroto shook his head as Kakashi looked at him questioningly, smirking as a dazed Sakura stumbled out into the clearing; only to promptly faint again as she saw two heads just above the ground, Hiroto sighing before going over to her.

"All of this fainting _CAN'T_ be good for her brain cells."

Kakashi chuckled as Hiroto picked her up, wordlessly tying her up to one of the practice logs as the sun hit high noon.

"Why are you tying Sakura up Hiroto-sensei?"

"Because she didn't understand the purpose of the test, though you got it almost immediately—if only unconsciously."

"*hn* What do you mean?"

"Well Sasuke, Naruto; why did you decide to attack first Kakashi, then Kakashi and me together instead of one at a time?"

"Attacking even _ONE_ of you alone would've been stupid; Naruto and I compared what we knew about you while waiting for Kakashi-sensei and realized that while our skills may have been enough to pass, they were no were_ NEAR_ your levels. Our failed attempts proved it."

"Are you trying to say that……..?"

Naruto stopped mid-question, realization lighting up his features as he quickly explained.

"Are you saying that the whole reason behind this training was to try and get us to use teamwork?!"

Hiroto nodded, beaming at his _'brothers' _as Kakashi answered.

"Exactly; it might have worked too if Hiroto-sensei was less perceptive. Now you two will eat your lunch in front of Sakura like I told you earlier; Hiroto-sensei and I have some business in town to take care of, so we'll be back in an hour or so."

"You are_ NOT_ to untie Sakura or share any food with her; you do, and all three of you will be sent _STRAIGHT_ back to the academy."

Going up to Sakura, Hiroto gathered some chakra into his hand before poking her on the forehead, nodding curtly to Kakashi before using the Hiraishin. Taking the obento out of the bag Hiroto had given them, Sasuke handed one to Naruto before settling down to eat, ignoring Sakura's whining for food. His head snapped up as he heard rope being cut, though at Naruto's searching glance he swiftly shut his mouth, knowing the reason he had done so, silently handing an obento to Sakura who squealed joyously at the fact that _SASUKE_ was giving her food before eating.

All of a sudden the two jounin appeared with a large _'BANG!'_, the absolute anger in their eyes making the genin quake in fear; well—Sakura and Naruto quaked, Sasuke just stared at them with wide eyes.

Taking a deep breath, the two jounin spoke at once, the clouds gathering darkly as they did so.

"YOU GUYS—pass!"

The three genin sweat-dropped and fell over as the sky switched from cloudy to sunny in an instant, Kakashi eye-smiling while Hiroto did a peace sign while smiling hugely.

"WHAT?!"

"You guys pass! Isn't that great?!"

"B-but what about the orders?!"

Hiroto chuckled, ruffling Naruto's hair fondly as Kakashi replied, not missing the—_jealous?_ look that the man gave him.

"Those who disobey orders are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are WORSE than trash. We'll meet here again tomorrow for our first mission. Di—."

"You guys can go now! Oi; Sasuke, Naruto! No destroying the house, understand?!"

The boys nodded their heads as they sped in the direction of the complex, trading mock blows with each other as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"So when are we supposed to go?"

"Ayaka said that we would be getting done about now; it's still surprising at how much you know, even knowing _WHO_ you two are. She said to be there in 20 minutes……………………

Don't worry; Gai's not going to be there, though she couldn't promise the same of his team."

Hiroto groaned while chuckling slightly, following Kakashi as they headed towards the shop.

"Bushy-brows, Fate-man and bun-head; joy."

Kakashi whipped his head back to stare at Hiroto who just smiled innocently.

"Okay; who's who, why and did they_ LET_ you call them that?"

"Bushy-brows should be obvious; Rock Lee has the thickest eyebrows I've _EVER_ seen and even though he didn't like it at first, he was okay with me calling him that.

Fate-man is Hyuuga Neji; he went _ON AND ON_ about the kind of life he had being the branch house during our fight and he had decided that everything bad had something to do with fate. Call him that to his face and you would soon understand the _FULL_ pain of the Gentle Fist Style.

Bun-head is Ten-ten—because the two things on her head look like buns—and you didn't call her that unless you wanted _BOTH_ a ton of weapons and the Byakugan to descend upon you."

"Wait; you mean that…….?"

"Yup."

"But Neji always seems too—serious for her."

Hiroto shrugged, pointing down to the street as they neared the shop.

"He changed after I beat some sense into him; less of a prick. He actually beat the shit out of Hinata in his anger to the main house."

"And when is this?"

"I—"

At that moment a pink blur chose to attach itself to his neck, Naruto nearly choking as Ayaka hugged him.

"Can't……………_*gasp* _breathe………….!"

"Sorry!"

Swiftly Ayaka let go of his neck, leading the both of them inside were they placed their orders before speaking.

"So how is it being a sensei Na—Hiroto?"

"It's kind of weird _(training the younger us), _but it's fun at the same time. Sakura _(you)_ passed out twice today; once when I used genjutsu on her and again when she saw Naruto's and Sasuke's heads poking out of the ground.

Sakura groaned as she silently mumbled _"Not again!"_ before pointing out to the street, three very distinct figures walking down the street as Hiroto raised an eyebrow.

"So not even the great Tsukino Ayaka could escape them, eh?"

"I swear they borrowed a couple of tracking bugs _(from Shino)_ and planted them on me."

"I doubt it _(they aren't friends with Shino yet, remember?)_; they probably just did a standard paper-tracer."

Grumbling, Ayaka let out a small burst of chakra, smirking as the girl cried out from the loss of the signature. Kakashi chuckled quietly; their conversation—both obvious and implied—was entertaining. Turning back to Hiroto, Ayaka pointedly ignored the trio until the hyper-active one of the group started yelling.

"YOU CANNOT TAKE THE LOVELY AYAKA-CHAN AWAY FROM US!"

Sighing, Hiroto smiled an apology to the owner as he paid for their ramen, motioning for the others to follow as he lead the way to the river, smacking Rock Lee over the head as they stopped.

"_OW~!" _

"_THAT _was for interrupting my ramen.

Ayaka and I were friends long before she came here; the fact that I arrived earlier does nothing to change that."

"Gai-sensei was listening in on Ayaka's and Kakashi's conversation and from what he heard, it sounded like you and Tsukino-san were going on a _'date'_ of sorts."

The two future shinobi stiffened, a tick developing above Ayaka's right eye as Hiroto growled softly, his hand clenching into a fist.

"That complete _IDIOT_!! I'll murder the jumpsuit wearing retard!"

Hiroto dodged a punch as Rock Lee lashed out at him, his team-mates taking up positions around him. Hiroto stiffened again; shaking his head to clear it of his anger as he spoke.

"You don't want to do this; attacking a jounin without provocation is forbidden."

Neji strutted—yes, strutted—to the front of the group, the smug look on his facing telling Hiroto that they had made their decision long before they tracked down Ayaka. With a sinking feeling, Hiroto knew that this was going to end poorly at best.

"You have threatened and insulted our teacher; that alone is provocation enough. But other than that; Gai knew every ANBU by name and would often point them out to us. But I never remember hearing about a Kitsune, much less a Kobayashi Hiroto; until proven otherwise, I label you a spy who has used genjutsu's and threats to worm your way in here.

Get ready, for nothing will change my—our—mind."

Hiroto didn't even move as he gave out orders, the tactician once again in control.

"Ayaka, take Lee; your abilities are the most matched; don't take him down_ TOO_ quickly though. Kakashi, could you take care of Ten-ten for me? I'll take the Hyuuga; Neji _NEEDS_ to be knocked down a notch or two if _THAT'S_ how he would talk to an enemy nin, let _ALONE_ an ally.

Here they come."

Ayaka swiftly met Rock Lee, flinging him into the forest before giving chase, Kakashi drawing Ten-ten off after him as Hiroto stared at Neji coldly. Closing his eyes, Hiroto directed his chakra, feeling the familiar pricking behind his eye-lids before opening them.

"Miyagan."

Neji pulled back as he looked into those eyes; completely black, a small double-tongued white flame rested in the center, four white dot-strokes swirling around the outside lazily. Shaking his head, Neji slid into position for the 8 trigrams, snorting as Hiroto just stood there.

'_His loss.' _

"8 Trigrams; 64 Palms! 2 Palms……………4 Palms………………8 Palms…………….16 Palms……………32 Palms…………64 Palms!!"

As Neji did the jutsu, he noticed that every time he would _JUST_ miss a pressure point as Hiroto dodged and weaved at the last possible moment, as if he wanted Neji to think that he_ WAS_ being hit. Jumping back, Neji drew in a hiss of breath as he looked into those eyes; the dots were swirling so fast that they had almost disappeared, forming a white ring in a sea of black, drawing him to the flame in the center.

"I don't have time for arrogant brats who_ DARE_ imply that I am not loyal to Konohakagure.

Miyagan; Modified 8 Trigrams."

Hiroto slid into position as Neji stared at him angrily for his words, snorting as he heard the name of the jutsu.

"You can't do that baka; only the members of the Hyuuga house can."

"Oh really? 8 Trigrams; 64 Palms! 2 Palms; 4 Palms; 8 Palms; 16 Palms; 32 Palms; 64 Palms!"

Neji fell, gasping; that was like to 8 Trigrams he had ever _SEEN_ before! It delivered more pain than the original and had taken a fraction of the time. Staring at Hiroto, he watched as the blonde summoned a toad, handing it a scroll he had fabricated as he spoke.

"Take this to Maito Gai; it explains_ EVERYTHING_, from the events leading up to the fight to the result. When he is done lead him here; I'll make sure that the others are put here as well. Tell him that I will come at the Hokage's summons if he wishes to speak further. Go."

With a nod the toad poofed away, an enraged Hyuuga staring up at him.

"What are you trying to pull, huh?! Drop the act already!"

Hiroto slammed a fist down next to Neji's head, hissing as the Hyuuga turned baleful eyes upon him.

"If there is one thing I do_ NOT _do, Hyuuga Neji, it is to accuse people out of turn and without proof. Unless you do the same, you will not survive being a shinobi for long.

Remember that."

Hiroto gave an ANBU whistle to gather the others together, healing any wounds the others may have obtained before setting the unconscious genin next to Neji's prone form, signaling for them to move out as he gave one last searing glare to the boy before using the Hiraishin to head home.

* * *

1: I THINK that's the Japanese name for "Rock, Paper, Scissors". It starts with a 'J'; though I might have put down Seeshomaru's lackey instead of the actual word.

Fea: Okay…………that wasn't how it was SUPPOSED to end; the story kinda took on a life of its own on the last bit. Guess I wanted to show that Lee was already possessive of her, though the method was—extreme.

Hiroto: I still think it's a dumb idea to have me fight the lil prick.

Fe: HEY! You hadn't copied the Byakugan yet so I was going to do it anyway. I just didn't mean for it to be so—hostile between you.

Hiroto:…….Right.

Fea: OH: have you found Naruto yet?

Hiroto: He says he won't come out.

Fea: What if I give him ramen?

Naruto: RAMEN!!!!

Fea: 0.o Any way's PLEASE REVIEW!!! I love reading your comments, but if it's anything flaming I will Shimai no Jutsu you. Bye!!


	7. Shimei

_**DISCLAIMER**__**: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!!!!**_ I wish I did; I would've converted the Akatsuki instead of killing them all off. Sucks.

I want to thank ALL these people for their input:

Sacuna

Blackraven1412BR

Animelover28

JezebelSadiablo

Ohtare

CuteLikeMomiji: Thank you for saying so; I wanted to do something different, and this is what came up! As for SasuNaru; I can't—that would defeat the purpose of writing it. HOWEVER; it did give me a good idea on how to annoy the crap out of a certain jounin sensei and chunin teacher later……*evil grin*

Kamerreon : *laughs manically* You asked for it; A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!!! *watches as you go sailing* How did ya like that?!

D. Akisira R.T.M.S. : Thank you! I update as often as my imagination and life allows; doesn't help I can only type at night, does it?

Sanz0girl: Glad you liked it! I enjoyed writing that part A LOT: in my opinion, he needs more smack-downs than just the one he got at the Chunin exams, ne?

Hikari Kaiya

Jonnlynn

River of the Emerald Dawn

* * *

"Sasuke; point B."

"Sakura; point C."

…………………………………………………………………_**.**_

"Naruto; point A, believe it."

"You're_ slow_ Naruto……..Target is on the move; after it!"

The three genin ran after the target, stopping in the shrubbery a short way from it.

"How close are you to the target?"

"Five meters; give me the word, I'm ready."

"As am I."

"Me too."

"Steady……………_GO_!"

As one the three genin jumped the target, our favorite-knuckle headed ninja managing to get a firm grip on the target, which just_ HAPPENED _to be a………….cat. Said cat was _NOT_ happy at being caught and promptly began to scratch the_ HELL _out of the unfortunate boy.

"Is there a red ribbon on the right ear? Is it the target?"

Sasuke sighed, wincing as the cat managed to catch Naruto across the bridge of the nose, the boy trying to grab hold of those stupid legs so that the cat would_ STOP _scratching him!

"Affirmative."

Naruto chose to scream into the mike at that moment, Sasuke the only one getting warning from living with the idiot as he quickly yanked it out.

"_**WHEN ARE WE GOING TO DO SOME COOL MISSIONS?!?!?!" **_

Sasuke cringed; even without his earpiece the volume had been ear shattering, scattering the birds for many miles around them—he could only imagine how loud it was with the earpiece_ ON_. Putting the earpiece back on, Sasuke smirked when he heard the faint _'thump'_ as Kakashi hit the ground; apparently having that much sound hitting your eardrums would make _ANYONE _pass out.

'_Hn; he could make a new jutsu out of that.' _

Sasuke was kidding of course; he would have cursed if he knew that Orochimaru already _HAD_ an idiot with powers like that (though he wouldn't have known who the idiotic snake man was). Sighing, Sasuke told Naruto and Sakura to take the cat back to the office, running off towards Kakashi's direction before they could argue. The raven haired boy smirked as he saw the passed out jounin; maybe he should use this for blackmail?

Sasuke immediately paled and shook his head; the jounin _WOULD_ find out, and he really didn't want to see the man's anger directed towards him.

Naruto had tried to steal his book yesterday and had gotten blown halfway across a field when Kakashi got annoyed and used the Thousand Years of Pain Jutsu; the blonde boy had hobbled around with a sore bum for the rest of the day. If Kakashi did things like_ THAT_ when he was annoyed, just_ IMAGINE_ what he would do if he was pissed.

Sighing, Sasuke kicked the bottom of Kakashi's foot, making his kick a little more forceful when the silver-haired man remained unconscious. It was at this moment that a blonde-black blur appeared in front of him and Sasuke jumped back in surprise, uncharacteristically tripping on a tree root as said figure stretched while sighing loudly.

"Thank Kami: I was beginning to think that giving long and pointless speeches was_ ANOTHER_ kekki genkai that the Hyuuga's had!!!!! You should have _HEARD_—………………..Uh, duck-butt; why is Kakashi passed out on the ground?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he tried to control the tick above his eye; this knuckle-head was almost as clueless as the other one—but he wouldn't trade them in for anything.

"Naruto _YELLED_ into the earpieces when Kakashi had turned the volume up a bit to hear us whispering during the mission Hiro-nii; he fell over shortly afterward and hasn't gotten up since."

Hiroto sighed as he ran a hand through his hair; he had wondered when _HIS_ Kakashi had walked into the office exactly _WHY_ the man looked so pale, but he never thought that the reason could be this.

"Go to the others and turn in the cat; Kakashi and I will come once I've determined that he didn't get injured from that baka screaming into his ears."

Sarcasm dripped off Hiroto's words as he finished speaking, rolling his eyes at Sasuke's knowing smirk as he left. Gathering chakra into his hands, Hiroto paused as he took in Kakashi's form.

Silver-hair was splayed across the ground like spilt moonbeams, the graceful curve of his nose and definition of his lips marred slightly by the mask that hugged a strong jaw and muscular neck, disappearing underneath standard jounin gear that hid the muscular body from view.

Hiroto shuddered; surely _ONE_ kiss wasn't going to hurt, was it? Slowly he lowered himself so that he was kneeling above the man, only snapping out his daze as one name was murmured—almost lovingly—from hidden lips.

"Naruto."

Hiroto sucked in his breath as he quickly scooted away; what had he been _THINKING_?!?!

This Kakashi belonged to the _YOUNGER _Naruto; not him.

His 'Kashi was lost forever.

Hiroto allowed one sob to wrack his body before controlling himself; hiding his pain behind a mask of happiness as he did a basic med spec through the jounins clothes, pleased to find that he only had a slight bump on his head that was easily hidden by the silvery hair.

'_**Kit………..Kit.' **_

'…………………_Yea Kyuubi?' _

'_**I'm ………..sorry I didn't trust you sooner. If I had maybe—………….maybe he would've been here with you.' **_

Despite the immense sadness within his heart, Hiroto smiled; Kyuubi was actually quite nice, once you got past his gruffness.

'_It isn't your fault; even at full power I doubt that we could've reached him in time.' _

'_**I know kit; I just don't like to see you hurt.' **_

'…………………_Thank You.'_

The bitterness in Hiroto's heart deepened as he thought about exactly _WHY_ he was so hurt.

But never in a million years could he blame Kyuubi.

After all, the big fur ball hadn't come willingly when Madara had summoned him to destroy the village; he had actually tried to kill Madara until the man did………….something to the demon lord, making him go berserk before setting him loose on the village.

Hiroto's countenance darkened; Madara.

'_EVERYTHING terrible about my life happened because of that………that monster; if there could EVER be a demon in human skin, it was—is that complete asshole of a bastard.' _

Hiroto snapped out of his thoughts as he felt Kakashi shift slightly, jumping up and away from the man before he awoke, nailing down the disoriented black eye with a wry smile as he held out a hand to help the man up.

"Naruto's got a set of lungs on him, doesn't he?"

Kakashi just grunted in response, grabbing the blondes hand only to wobble unsteadily once he was on his own two feet. Chuckling, Hiroto handed Kakashi his water canteen, smiling and lightly punching the man when he handed it back.

"Comon; I'm sure that Naruto is annoying the crap out of the Hokage for a better mission. Let's save the old man before Naruto can do the same attack to him, eh?"

Kakashi chuckled before body flickering to the Hokages' office, rolling his eyes as he saw a bored-looking Hiroto leaning against the door frame.

"I've_ REALLY_ got to teach you the Hiraishin; everyone's too frigging _SLOW_ without it!!!!!"

Kakashi bopped the young man over the head as he walked pass, sighing as the idiot paused for a second—rubbing the back of his head—before sprinting to catch up. Both men winced and Hiroto cursed as they heard Naruto's ear-blowing volume coming from inside the office. Taking a bracing breath, as if he was about to burst into a room of enemy nin, Hiroto glanced at Kakashi, who nodded his head resignedly as the blonde pushed open the door.

"…_**.NOT THE SAME KID THAT USED TO PULL PRANKS YOU KNOW!!!" **_

Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his cheeks puffed out as he crossed his arms, pointedly ignoring the Hokage and Iruka. Again Hiroto saw Iruka's gaze strayed to the Uchiha, and it made him wonder just_ HOW_ badly the Iruka from his time had been hurt when Sasuke left. Shaking his head, Hiroto smiled as the Hokage gave in, wincing as Naruto gave out a loud whoop as he pumped his fist into the air.

"You can come in now."

Slowly the door behind them opened, and the strong scent of sake met Hiroto's sensitive nose.

'_Great; Tasuna. That means it's time to deal with THEM again too……….I wonder if they would make good allies?' _

"…..just a bunch of brats."

"_**WHAT DID YOU SAY OLD MAN?!" **_

"No insulting the client Naruto."

Hiroto snorted; he hadn't liked a drunken Tasuna then and he still didn't like him now. As soon as the Hokage told them the departure time Hiroto nodded and used the Hiraishin, intent on finding a certain genin. Stopping in front of the flower shop, the blonde squared his shoulders before stepping inside, immediately going over to the sunflowers. They had been Kakashi's favorite; mostly because they reminded the jounin of him………

Hiroto shook his head and smiled sadly, also picking up a violet, Sakura blossoms, a wild rose and two moonflowers before heading to the counter. Hiroto smiled softly as the blonde girl looked up, her greeting dying on her lips as she saw who was purchasing.

"I would like to buy these please."

"………..O-of course. Would you like a vase for them?"

"I need 5 of them please; can you supply me with some ribbon if I tell you what colors I need?"

"I'll see what I can do."

As Hiroto listed off the colors, Ino scurried from drawer to drawer, intent on pleasing the man who had caused her so much trouble before; Asuma-sensei had lectured first her, then everyone on proper shinobi behavior for almost an hour before calming down enough to sheepishly apologize. As Ino handed a pair of scissors Hiroto caught her hand, smiling wanly as her pale blue eyes looked into his darker orbs.

"I'm sorry about what I did at the academy; war makes you……unnecessarily harsh when there is no need to be………Still; that is no excuse for how publicly I rebuked you,*snort* even if it was in good intention…….

I just hope that you will accept my apology."

Letting go of her hand, Hiroto proceeded to decorate the vases, only looking up when the girl cleared her throat loudly.

"You shouldn't be sorry you know; yes it was embarrassing, but you taught me a lesson I could've learned in much less………positive conditions. I should be _THANKING_ you; Asuma-sensei described some…..vivid scenario's as to what _COULD _have happened if I had tried to do that to anyone less…..forgiving."

Hiroto shuddered; he had gotten a lecture from the large man once—_NEVER AGAIN_. He even out-classed Iruka in creepiness when he was pissed. Ino giggled, noticing the slightly frightened look on his face, raising an eyebrow as the blonde man finished decorating the vases without even looking at them.

"Their arrangement is………interesting."

"Well I'm going more for symbolism than symmetry; how much?"

"With everything that will be…………63 dollars (1)."

Pulling out the money, Hiroto kept hold of it as the other blonde looked at him again.

"Are we good?"

Ino giggled; Hiroto was as formal and informal as they come, all at the same time.

"Yea; we're good."

"Then good day to you."

"See ya!"

Hiroto chuckled as he walked out of the store, his purchases carefully balanced inside a box.

'_One bridge mended; two to go.' _

Making his way to a certain pinkies apartment, Hiroto made sure to set the box down carefully before summoning a pen and some paper, writing a short note and signing it before folding and placing it among three of the five, picking up the other two before knocking on the door and using the Hiraishin to disappear.

The door was opened by a young jumpsuit wearing boy; calling loudly to the pinky when he noticed the flowers.

"Oi Ayaka-chan! There are some flowers for you!"

"Really? What kind are they?"

"There are Sakura blossoms, a wild rose, and a violet!"

Lee yelped slightly as the door was wrenched from his grasp and thrown open; Ayaka staring at the arrangement with wide eyes before shaking and slowly sinking to the floor, ignoring the various questions of concern as her team gathered around her.

The Sakura and the Rose stood side-by-side; the rose vase slightly higher than the sakura vase. The rose vase was covered with black-green ribbon at the base, a solid line of black broken by a line of blue before going back to black; strands of ribbon flowing down the back of the vase like hair.

The Sakura vase was covered in red at the bottom with a line of black separating before leading to pink, curly strands that flowed down the back. The violet was in a vase considerably shorter than the other two; the bottom in red-white strands, broken by a line of silver before leading to dark purple strands that curled slightly.

All three were connected by ribbons; it looked like the taller two were giving a one handed hug as the other _'arm'_ reached down to the shorter, the shorters arms curling to grasp the ends of the tallers ribbons.

Ayaka stared a while longer, only coming out of it as Lee gently shook her shoulder and asked her what's wrong, frowning before placing the note in her hand as she shook her head and said nothing. Opening the note, Ayaka's eyes spilt their burden; the baka _KNEW_. She didn't know_ HOW_ he knew; just that he knew.

This is what the note said:

_Ayaka, _

_These are so that they can remain with you always; even in the afterlife. _

_You can't return the favor with the same materials; I bought some of my own when I made_

_these. _

_Forever Your Friend; _

_Kitsune _

Ayaka gave Lee the note, telling him that he could read it and then pass it on as she gently picked up the box, bringing it into her room as Lee followed silently before handing it over, each person falling silent as they read the note.

"I—I don't understand…….Why did you want us to read this?"

Ayaka smiled at Ten-ten before motioning for silence, the men biting their tongues in mid-sentence.

"So that you can understand why it moved me so………………………..When I turned eighteen, I married the love of my life. Together, we had one beautiful girl who's hair was the color of a violet void. Five years later, they…………………they were both killed right before my eyes, I unable to do anything even _WITH_ my kekki genkai.

In fact; it was because of their kekki genkai's that they were executed.

Our………..captors had wanted me to suffer; after all, I was a key member of the resistance and had to be tortured accordingly. I was just about to die from blood loss when…………………..when _HE_ came. Kobayashi Hiroto; Konoha's Kitsune. He was able to dispatch the enemies with ease, treating my wounds and making sure that they were properly buried before disappearing.

I had been searching for him for three years when I finally learned the location of Konoha, quickly making my way here and getting permission from the Hokage to earn my place in the village before seeking him out; last night was just the latest in grateful gestures I made to the man.

In a time when he was supposed to be the most ruthless ANBU, he stopped and helped a woman who had just lost _EVERYTHING_.

That is why I follow him; that is why he is my friend."

The room was silent as all four—well; three. Though Neji had the sense to look startled at least—hung their heads in shame; they had assumed without information, a_ MAJOR_ breach for a shinobi, no matter the reason. Noticing their gloomy moods, Ayaka laughed before punching each of them in the shoulder, grinning as they looked at her questioningly.

"Don't worry; if anything the knuckle-head will try and apologize to_ YOU_. Especially you Neji; though personally I think you deserved the beat down. If and when he does that just brush it off and apologize yourselves; heaven knows that he needs more attention outside of that odd-ball team that he's been a sensei to."

Three heads nodded enthusiastically as the fourth remained still, an unusually contemplative look on his face. Ayaka smiled; this team might be idiots, but they were _HER_ idiots.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Hiroto groaned as he woke up; he did _NOT_ want to do the first part of this mission.

The second half sure; the first half no. Damn Tasuna.

Then he remembered the Demon Brothers and a sly grin appeared on his face; he planned on torturing the _HELL_ out of the idiotic mist nins. Stretching, Hiroto got ready for the mission, remembering to grab his wet-stones and polishing kit for his swords. Walking into the kitchen and setting his pack down on the floor, Hiroto began making breakfast, knowing that the smell served as a more effective wake-up to the two boys than what yelling or loud noises ever could.

Sure enough, the two boys stumbled in 12 minutes later, Hiroto laughing as he took in their sleepy expressions as he set breakfast before them, all three eating in silence before Hiroto cleaned up and ushered them outside, locking the door before leading the way to the front gate, where Tasuna and Sakura were already waiting.

"You guys are 20 minutes late!!!"

"So? Do you see Kakashi-sensei here yet?........I wouldn't be surprised if we waited another 2 hours for him."

As it turns out, they only had to wait for an hour; it seems that when going on a mission, the jounin wasn't _AS_ late as usual. After the customary yelling and lame excuses they started out, though Tasuna seemed intent on annoying Naruto the entire way to wave country. After a while they came to the oddity of a puddle, Hiroto changing his position slightly so that he could walk right over it.

Almost immediately after passing it, the entire team heard loud screams as the brothers burst out of the water, glaring at Hiroto while hugging themselves tightly—though that didn't stop the after-shocks that went through their system.

"Bastard!!!! You friggin _ELECTROCUTED_ us through your damn feet!"

Hiroto smirked; he didn't know that the Demon Brothers had been such big wimps—at the moment, his younger self was too—but that's beside the point.

Infuriated that such a lowly Konoha nin dare hurt them—never mind the fact that he could've killed them by now if he wanted to—they launched a full scale attack against him, using mid-level water jutsu's to attack him.

Of course Hiroto negated them easily, not even dodging as they entangled him within their razor whips, smirking as he broke them easily before sending them into nearby trees with a small burst of chakra. At this point they were beyond enraged and charged Hiroto without thought, swinging their wasashi in a large arch at his neck. They stared in horror as the blades were snapped cleanly in half a millisecond before both of Hiroto's fist connected with their faces, sending them back into the trees were they remained, unconscious.

Sighing, Hiroto turned around before leveling a disappointed look in the genin's direction.

"Why didn't you step in?"

Shock was apparent on the genin's faces, though Sakura was the one who spoke up first.

"It looked like you could handle it."

"And? What if I had been a touch too slow in raising my chakra barriers or strength; what if I had no idea how to stop water-based jutsu and ended making it ten times worse instead? While you should be confident in your team-mates abilities—that's true—you should_ NEVER _underestimate the enemies or _OVERESTIMATE _theirs…………..It doesn't help that you were frozen like a rabbit in the hawks stare either."

"What is _THAT_ supposed to mean?"

"It means—Naruto—that fear should _NEVER_ get in the way of duty; that is, unless you want to end up dead."

Hiroto moved toward Tasuna as the rest thought in silence, though it was broken when Sasuke yelled.

"What are you doing, you baka?!"

Hiroto turned to see that Naruto had stabbed a kunai into his hand, his grimace the only thing telling of his pain.

"I vow here and now that I will_ NEVER_ let fear keep me from doing what I must. I _WILL_ become Hokage!"

Hiroto shook his head as Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"Naruto; as much as I applaud your enthusiasm, you'll die if you lose much more blood—seriously."

'_It's official; the younger me was—and is—an idiot.' _

Hiroto grimaced before turning his attention back to the bridge-builder, his icy stare silencing the man before he even began to ask his question.

"Do you want to tell us the _REAL_ reason you hired us Tasuna? Despite what the idiots may think over there _**(HEY!!!)**_, Hidden Mist Nins this far into fire country and attacking Konoha Nins this close to the village is _NOT_ normal; they're not the type of ninja to attack without reason, no matter what others may think of them.

So spill; what's going on in Wave Country that you would need 2 jounins and 3 genin's and fake the rank of the mission?"

Tasuna deflated; he had wanted to avoid telling them at all costs in case they turned him down—but then again, he supposed it was only fair; to be asked to risk you life so suddenly—especially as far as the brats were concerned—would cause any shinobi to take a second look.

"The Land of Waves isn't a very rich country; we never have been. But lately it's gotten worse; Gato—."

"Isn't that the shipping and realistate tycoon?"

"*sigh* Yes; however, that is only a cover. His real business is hiring thugs and the making of narcotics; the shipping is just a cover so that he can transport them safely. In controlling all merchant traffic to and from Wave, he could make enough money to support his other—interests—while keeping up appearances to the lord of the Wave that what he was doing was in the best interest of the country.

The bridge I'm building to connect Wave with the mainland would shred this illusion and expose him, not to mention break his monopoly; for these reasons he wishes me dead. As for the rank of the mission; as I said earlier, Wave is a poor country and we couldn't pay you even if we tried.

You can go back if you wish; just know that I had hoped to see my daughter and grandson once more before I died……… I suppose that dying before then is my punishment for lying; to never see them again……"

'_Damn manipulative old man.' _

Hiroto sighed, looking to Kakashi questioningly before speaking.

"Alright alright: we'll guard you until you get home! Just stop it with the allusions to death will you; this job will be gloomy enough without you adding to the mood!"

Tasuna brightened immediately, turning to walk down the path with a spring in his step before calling back to the nin, telling them to get their asses in gear.

Hiroto grumbled; muttering something about _'psychotic old men'_ before shuffling off after said man, unconsciously mirroring his younger self, a sharp-eared jounin chuckling to himself before setting off after them.

* * *

1: I don't know the Yen system well enough to use it. GOMEN!

Fea: OMFG!!! My computer was being retarded and wouldn't let me type for 3 days! You might think it a lame excuse but it's TRUE! The dumb part is that there wasn't even anything wrong with the damn thing!!!............

Gomen; ranting over now.

Naruto: ………………………..Your as scary as Iruka when you're mad.

Fea: Really?..........._*shudders* _That's scary.

Naruto: Tell me about it.

Fea: Anyways; REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! Opinions are always given serious consideration!


	8. Kaigi

_**DISCLAIMER**__**: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!!!!**_** And whoever invented suing should f—ing jump off a cliff. **

Gaa! MAJOR writers block for this one; sorry it took so friggin long!

Anyways; ON TO THE STORY!!!!

* * *

If he listened to one more _WORD_ about how the old geezer wasn't going to make it to see his family on his own every time one of the kids complained, he would _MAKE_ sure that the man fell over the side of the skiff and_ DROWNED_. The instant he could see the distant shore, the blonde jounin took off, muttering something to Kakashi about '_scouting'_ before using the Hiraishin to get as far away from the geezer as possible.

'_Kami! And I thought listening to Kyuubi complain was annoying!' _

'_**HEY!' **_

The blonde sniggered silently before taking stock of his surroundings, giving Kakashi the all clear after a couple of moments. Noticing the two boys' aggravated looks when they got off, the blonde asked them using ANBU shorthand, which he had been teaching them in the evenings during dinner.

'_Something wrong?' _

Sasuke rolled his eyes, his quick clipped movements betraying his agitation.

'_About ready to smack the geezer upside the head; he won't shut up!' _

'_Couldn't you have gagged him or something Hiro-nii?!' _

Naruto signed; his movement too fast for anyone else to catch. Hiroto rolled his eyes before shaking his head despairingly, grinning at Kakashi's chuckle as he too watched the conversation.

'_Stay alert.' _

The boys nodded, Hiroto repeating the command out loud for Sakura's benefit as they moved forward. Tasuna had just informed them that they were about half-way to the village when Naruto flung a kunai into the bushes, almost skewering a white hare that had been hiding behind it.

"Baka; what were you thinking?! You almost killed it!"

Sobbing, the young blonde kneeled down and crushed the animal to his check, apologizing to it again and again as Sasuke shook his head in despair, Kakashi and Hiroto looking at it through analytical eyes.

'_It's the middle of summer and yet it has a winter coat; only hare's raised indoors that are kept in a dark room would—!' _

"**GET DOWN!" **

Everyone ducked just as a large sword came whirling above their heads, lodging halfway into a tree with a sickening _'thump'_ as a nin landed on top of it. Said nin had short, spiky black hair—the lower half of his face and neck covered by white bandages before leading to a muscular chest with a blue sword strap that hung over one shoulder, thick arms corded with years of use, the forearms covered by dull white warmers with green splotches on them. Blue-grey stripped pants completed the look; though oddly, it looked like the man didn't have any eyebrows (1).

He was faced away from the group and looked at them over a broad shoulder with a critical eye, brows only furrowing when he came to Kakashi—It would be wise to point out that even if Hiroto had been who he said he was, Zabuza _STILL_ wouldn't know about him because all records of the Yondaime's family were destroyed after his death. Little did Hiroto know that the fake history he had_ 'slipped' _into the Hoshi villages S-class files had already been leaked.

"Naruto!"

The blonde looked over sharply to the other, a plainly annoyed look on his face.

"Don't any one of you _DARE_ try to take on Zabuza; even if all three of you went, you would be killed before you even had time to think."

"The blondes right kid………….Killing you would be like squishing an ant; it's that easy…………

Kakashi of the Sharingan; did I get that right?"

Kakashi said nothing, his hand straying to his hitai-ite as he slowly tensed for battle.

"Sorry; but your going to have to hand over the old man."

"Over my dead body Momochi."

Zabuza's eye zoomed in on Hiroto, who grinned back feraly while crouching low to the ground, looking for all the world like some preditorious animal that was about to attack.

"Who are you?"

"My name……..is Kobayashi-Namikaze Hiroto."

Zabuza's eye widened before going back to normal; the weight of the name was not lost on him.

"A Kobayashi eh? Not only that; you're about as rare as that Uchiha brat I hear still lives.

Hiroto of the Miyagan correct?"

Hiroto nodded, pausing as Kakashi held a hand up.

"I'll handle it Hiroto; a Miyagan user shouldn't be troubled unless it's absolutely necessary."

Hiroto actually _WHINED_ his disappointment before nodding his head, gathering the others into a protective formation with Tasuna in the center. Slowly Kakashi raised his hitai-ite before opening his left eye, revealing the Sharingan underneath; all three jounin raised their eyebrow(figuratively for Zabuza) as Naruto pointed at him and shouted loudly.

"Sharingan! Why does Kakashi have it Sasuke?! I thought that was _YOUR_ kekki genkai!"

Sasuke shook his head and sighed as those who didn't know that he had a kekki genkai(or was an Uchiha for that matter)—Sakura, Tasuna, and Zabuza respectively—turned their eyes on him.

"It is; Kakashi must have known an Uchiha who willingly gave up one of their eyes—though for what reason I don't know."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Will someone please bring me up to speed?!"

Sasuke glanced at Sakura, eyeing Zabuza warily as he spoke.

"Sharingan; a rare power that resides within one's eyes. This dojutsu—visual jutsu—can see and comprehend any ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu that is directed at the user, letting them reflect the jutsu back on their opponent. But it goes further than that; it can analyze the opponent's technique, then copy it to the _SMALLEST_ detail."

"You got that right boy; but do you know what the Miyagan can do?"

"I wasn't even aware that Hiroto-sensei _HAD _a kekki genkai before this moment."

"My Miyagan is like the Sharingan in the fact that it is a dojutsu. However; were the Sharingan merely reflects the attack, still giving chance for the wielder to be injured, the Miyagan negates it completely. It also allows me to control based upon will; the weaker your will, the easier it is for me to have you kill yourself and your teammates, saving me the trouble.

What the Miyagan is most famous for—however—is an ability that countless ninja said was impossible; the ability to copy and strengthen kekki genkai's. As a result, members of our house never numbered more than 20; if more, so powerful we would become that we could take over the entire ninja world in a day if even 10 more than that number were to be in existence.

Fortunately or unfortunately—depending on how you view it—there are only two Miyagan users alive to today; one is I."

"And the other?"

Hiroto grinned, shifting so that he could get a good look at their faces from over his shoulder.

"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto."

Everyone's jaw dropped at the statement; even Zabuza couldn't keep the shocked surprise from crossing his face. Hiroto just grinned at them, knocking them all out of their stupor as he reminded them of where they were. The three genin tightened their formation around Tasuna as Kakashi re-captured Zabuza's attention; Hiroto chuckled as he left—they didn't need him for this. Besides; he had something he wanted to look up.

"Water Vortex Jutsu!"

Zabuza yelled as the jutsu he was THINKING of doing was done by Kakashi, the massive wall of water slamming him painfully into the trunk of a tree; the pain made even worse by Kakashi pinning him to said tree with numerous kunai. Eyes widening as the silver-haired nin came at him with a kunai in hand, Zabuza gave out a strangled gurgle as three needles pierced him through the throat before falling limp.

Whirling around, the Konoha nin took in the sight of the newcomer; orange-black striped pants and dark green kosode covered a slim frame. The face was hidden by a white ANBU mask that was framed by long black bangs, the rest of the hair pulled back into a…………bun.

The figure jumped down from the trees and bowed to Kakashi, who was a bit taken back by the formality.

"Thank you for taking him down; I have been hunting him for weeks and been unable to complete my mission until you came along.

I will take him now; some secrets of the Mist are not meant to be seen."

Without a further word the figure picked up Zabuza before jumping into the trees, swiftly losing himself from their sight. Kakashi groaned as he slowly toppled over, the two boys managing to catch him before he fell completely.

"Are you alright Kakashi-sensei?!"

"I'm fine; I just overused the Sharingan. Since I wasn't born with it, it sucks up a lot of my chakra whenever I use it."

"*sigh* We could really use Hiroto-sensei right now."

"Where the hell did Hiro-nii go?! I wanted to ask him more about the Miyagan damn it!"

Sakura punched Naruto upside the head before turning to Tasuna, looking at him with a surprisingly icy glare as she spoke.

"So where is your house; as the benefactor of our services, you are required to give us shelter, food, and aid as necessary are you not?"

Tasuna sweat-dropped before reluctantly leading the way to his house; while he could leave them there, he had no doubt as to the boys skills and he REALLY didn't want the jounin mad at him later. It took 20 minutes longer for them to reach the bridge builders house, his daughter giving a loud gasp of surprise as she saw the nins, though when she saw Kakashi she immediately went into_ 'Mom' _mode, telling the boys to put him into a room while she made some dinner.

"Where did that baka sensei go?!"

Sakura whined, snapping her attention to Sasuke as he spoke up.

"Where ever he is he can take care of himself; remember, he _IS_ a Miyagan user. Though the thought that Naru-baka(2) has it too is……..disturbing."

"HEY!!! At least I'm related to Hiro-nii! Kakashi only has the Sharingan because of some de—_OUFF_!"

"Idiot! Whatever happened it must have been painful; no Uchiha gives up their eyes unless it's to a friend or on the verge of death………or both."

Silence reigned as the genin lost themselves in thought, only coming out if it as Tasuna's daughter cleared her throat divertingly.

"So……….What does this other sensei of yours look like so I don't hit him with my frying pan when he suddenly appears?"

Despite themselves the genin sniggered; it would serve Hiroto right for abandoning them earlier.

"To put it bluntly he looks like an older version of Naru-baka; though the glaring orange isn't a part of the equation."

"No dissing how I look! Or do you want me to start calling you by Hiro-nii's nickname?"

Sasuke froze before turning to look at Naruto, who's grin was just as mischievous as it was malicious.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Of course I would Sasu-teme(3)!...............The real question is what would you do to me duc—?"

"THIS!!"

Sasuke did a flying kick at the hyperactive blondes head, who just laughed as he dodged and ran outside, a loud shout of _'UNFAIR!'_ ringing out as Sasuke Katoned him just before a loud splash was heard. Running outside, the two women smiled as they watched the boys splash each other with water, Sakura jumping in and joining as both the boys managed to get her on the walkway.

"And what may I ask are you doing?"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, a large grin breaking out on Naruto's face as he saw who it was walking on the water towards them.

"Oi Hiro-nii; that's cool!"

Hiroto laughed as he kneeled down to the boys' level, shouting in surprise as all three genin splashed him, grinning ruefully at their laughing.

"Okay; I know your wondering were the hell I was—."

"_NO DUH!!!" _

"—but I'm not going to tell you right now. Just know that our mission isn't over."

"What do you mean?"

"Kakashi will explain it more tomorrow; for now though lets go get cleaned up and eat the food that no doubt the lady of the house has so deliciously prepared for us, ne?"

The three genin laughed as Hiroto helped them back onto the walkway, the woman blushing and smiling hugely at his compliments. After dinner—and finding out that their cooks name was Tsunami—the nin stretched languidly as they headed off to bed, Hiroto jumping up on the roof to sleep.

'_**Why up here kit?'**_

'_Because Kyuubi……………………Even if we manage to avoid the annihilation of mankind; it won't remain this peaceful for long. I want to enjoy it while I can.' _

Hiroto felt Kyuubi nod before falling silent; peace was indeed a fleeting thing. Hiroto sighed as he stared into the stars, smiling grimly as he noticed three fall.

'_I wish that My Kakashi, Ayaka's Lee and their girl Aikiko-chan were here with us. *Snort*_

_If only wishes COULD come true.' _

Hiroto stretched as the morning light became glaringly bright, noting with surprise that he actually managed to sleep in. Hopping up, Hiroto walked along the edge of the roof until he came to Kakashi's window, deftly flipping himself around so that he hung upside down from the eave right in front of Kakashi's window.

"_**Ungh**_. I_ REALLY_ overused my Sharingan; it'll be a week before I can move n-ormally again."

"See; you should just stay in bed and rest completely in my opinion."

Hiroto chuckled; Tsunami was really too overprotective for her own good. Hiroto used the Hiraishin to appear right in front of the two; upside down of course.

"Yo!"

Kakashi just rolled his eyes as Tsunami stared at him in stunned silence, all three turning towards the door as the three genin walked inside. They didn't notice Hiroto at first as they sat down around Kakashi; even when they did, their reaction was far from memorable—Sasuke just rolled his eyes as Naruto raised a hand in greeting, Sakura just shaking her head before making a play swipe at him, shrugging dismissively as she missed.

"Ok Kakashi-sensei; just who exactly was that boy we saw yesterday?"

"You know the mask he was wearing?"

Everyone nodded their heads; it was kind of hard to _FORGET _the mask.

"That mask is only worn by the most elite of shinobi; ANBU Black Ops—also known as the Inferno Squad. When a shinobi dies or abandons their village it is up to these ANBU to make sure that their bodies don't fall into the hands of enemy shinobi.

Take—for example—that either Hiroto-sensei or I died and an enemy nin got their hands on our bodies; in worst case scenario, they could figure out how the Sharingan_ AND_ the Miyagan works and use it against our very own village.

In fact; the Black Ops are supposed to take care of the body right where they found it…………..

Do you remember what kind of weapon he used to take down Zabuza?"

Sasuke immediately latched on to what Kakashi was getting at, a crease of worry furrowing his brow as he voiced the train of thought.

"Senbon; a type of throwing needle that was adapted from acupuncture needles."

"Correct; Black Ops are trained to know every DETAIL of the body—for them, getting a heart to stop while keeping the body alive would be as easy as breathing."

Sakura butted in, voicing the confusion and apprehension everyone else felt.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Zabuza is _NOT_ dead. The boy wasn't trying to kill Zabuza; he was trying to SAVE him."

Complete silence greeted his words, everyone thrown into a state of shock; until Naruto opened his mouth that is.

"I'm going to take him down for real this time _BELIEVE IT_!"

"Yea right."

Everyone turned to see a small boy of about 8-10 standing in the doorway, his big black eyes full of pain and mocking scorn.

"Your going to get killed if you do that; only idiots believe in being a hero."

"Inari! These people helped your grandfather get home safely! Apologize!"

"Why should I? Gato will just kill 'em anyways."

With that the boy ran up the stairs, leaving a pissed off blonde in his wake.

"What the hell is his problem?!"

Tsunami and Tasuna just shook their heads; both unwilling to relive_ THAT_ moment at that time. The five nin looked at each other as the two exited the room; Hiroto knew what was coming in the next week, but would he be able to change it?

* * *

1: Some people wouldn't agree, but to me it true; have you SEEN the pictures of this guy?

2: Sasuke's nickname for Naruto (he doesn't mean it I swear)

3: Naruto's nickname for Sasuke (ditto to above)

Fea:………So SORE!!! Gaa; if I don't do another workout in my LIFE it will be too soon.

Hiroto: Pansy.

Fea:*growls* If you don't want me to change it so that you end up with OROCHIMARU, you will apologize; now.

Hiroto:*pales* G-gomenesai.

Fea: Better.

Anyways please REVIEW! It helps me keep my confidence up so that I can write the chapters!


	9. Nayami

I have to apologize; 4 months is far too long a time for ANYONE to wait for an update on a simple story. For that I am deeply sorry…..

No fucking joke; I am so friggin SORRY!

I was at bot camp for two months and then I've spent the other two settling into my school; I'm in the Navy now, but don't expect the story to stop just cause of that!

To those who are still reading; I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN IT! LEAVE ME ALONE!

Now onto the story!

"WHY COULDN'T THEY HAVE WOKEN ME UP!"

In a rush the blonde flew down the stairs, poking his head into the kitchen were Tsunami was cooking lunch.

"Hey hey Tsunami-san; were did my team go?"

"They left with father to go and supervise the bridge building; your sensei said for you to eat and catch up once you woke up."

"Why didn't he wake me up?"

"_*shrug* _He said something about chakra exhaustion."

Naruto mumbled as he ran back up the stairs and pulled his jumpsuit on; I mean come on! Not even Hiro-nii bothered to wake him up! Running back down the stairs, Naruto wolfed down the food before shooting outside and taking to the trees, shouting a thank you to Tsunami for the food.

"Aww man! _WHY_ couldn't they have woken me up? They better not have done anything cool without me!"

It was around this time when Naruto noticed a wild boar lying dead in the middle of a clearing, multiple sword wounds criss-crossing its body, the wreckage of plants around it pointing strait towards the village.

'_Inari; Tsunami!' _

The mist started right after Hiroto managed to get the last of the injured builders off; everyone got into a formation with Tasuna in the center, Hiroto smirking in spite of himself. Suddenly they were surrounded by multiple Zabuza's, the one in front of Kakashi chuckling darkly before speaking.

"I see that you still have the brats with you; the boy is still quivering."

Sasuke smirked, gripping the kunai in his hand more tightly while shifting slightly.

"I'm shaking with….anticipation!"

"Show him Sasuke."

With unbelievable speed Sasuke cut through the Zabuza's surrounding them, Hiroto patting his shoulder as the water clones fell around them.

'_I could see them!' _

Zabuza and the boy popped up a short distance away, Zabuza giving another of his famous chuckles before speaking to the two boys.

"So you could see that they were water clones could you? This one has improved; he might actually be a challenge for you Haku."

Haku nodded his head, a brief second passing between the two groups before the boys charged at each other. The three jounins gathered watched them exchange blows with increasing interest; they were nearly an even match for each other, though Haku was still better by the slightest bit. Said boy let out a growl of annoyance as Sasuke sent him halfway down the length of the bridge; slowly, imperceptibly he lured the boy out from the protection of his team mates, using his jutsu when the Uchiha got out far enough.

"Secret Art; Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

Sasuke looked all around him as ice mirrors popped up everywhere, though Haku noted with some annoyance he wasn't nearly as worried as he should've been. He found out why as Sasuke called out to his sensei.

"Oi Hiroto-sensei; can I use it now?"

"*snigger* Show him the true strength of an Uchiha, Sasuke!"

Smirking the raven-haired boy closed his eyes, only to open them a moment later. The iris of his eyes had turned a blood red; a black dot in the middle replacing the pupil with three stroke-dots swimming lazily in a circle around it. Hiroto grinned as he noticed Kakashi and Sakura staring at him, shrugging it off dismissively.

"What? I just thought that it might be a good idea for him to at least know how to activate the basic form."

"But I haven't even started tea—!"

"I know, I know; but when you live with the kid and you JUST HAPPENED to copy the most powerful form of the Sharingan a couple of years back, he tends to go to you more than the sensei that he only knows in the team setting.

*chuckle* Don't worry; his primary element is lightning and though I can control all of them—let's say my lightning isn't were it should be."

"What about Naruto? Did you manage to get him to activate the Miyagan?"

"…..The thing with Sharingan is that even it can be tricked by my other kekki genkai; the Kōha. It was easy to make Sasuke think he was in danger so that he would activate it. Naruto however; because the two kekki genkai's are so closely linked, Naruto would figure out the Kōha before he activated the Miyagan. Me just outright attacking him wouldn't work either because he knows I would never truly kill him.

No; the Miyagan must be activated the old fashioned way or not at all."

"As interesting as this is, I believe that Kakashi and I have some unfinished business."

Kakashi whipped his head around to glare at Zabuza; to say he hated the man at that moment would be an understatement.

"This time I WILL kill you Zabuza."

"If you can see me that is."

Zabuza grinned as he made the necessary hand-seals, his voice fading away along with him as he spoke, the fog becoming so thick you couldn't see in front of you for more than a few inches.

"Ninja Art; Hidden Mist Jutsu. You can't use that Sharingan of yours if you can't see me Kakashi."

Kakashi let out an unintentional growl of annoyance before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

'_Think Kakashi; even if you can't see him you still have your other senses. Now were w—*BOOM*— What the hell was that?' _

Everyone looked to the direction of the blast, Kakashi sweat-dropping as he figured out who it was.

'_The idiot ruined the element of surprise; was HIROTO this much of a knuckle-head when HE was younger?' _

Looking to said blonde, Kakashi sweat-dropped even more as he caught the others eye, who rubbed the back of his head while putting a silly grin on his face.

'_I'm going to take that as a yes.' _

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO IS HERE BELIEVE IT!"

Said idiot burst his way inside Haku's jutsu to which Kakashi nearly yelled at him for being an idiot. NEARLY; Hiroto was just a touch too fast for him.

"You BAKA; how the hell are you going to get out?"

Naruto shrugged; he just wanted to get into the action and Sasu-teme had looked like the one who was having the most fun.

"Foolish boy; how do you plan on getting out?"

"Simple; I'm GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"

"Naru-baka; if I'm having trouble kicking his butt WITH my Sharingan what makes you think that you'd be able to without it?"

"I have my Miyagan!"

"*smirk* Have you even activated it yet?"

"…I hate you Sasu-teme."

Sasuke smirked again, both boys turning to Haku as he softly—sadly?—sighed before straightening.

"Are you ready?"

Haku melted back into the mirrors before the boys could respond, both of them standing back to back as they watched the mirrors warily.

"Do you think that they'll be o.k. Hiroto-sensei?"

Hiroto shrugged outwardly, though inwardly his mind raced to find the words that would placate the pink-haired girl while giving a vague of an answer as possible.

"They have a better chance than most; after all, one is the heir to the Uchiha Clan and one is the biggest knuckle heads in Fire Country. Between the two of them they have a good chance of beating that guys ass."

Sakura smiled briefly, placated by the older man's words before directing her attention back to the fog, trying to focus her eyes on anything that moved though she secretly knew that it was useless.

Kakashi cursed as he was STILL unable to find the rogue nin before closing his eyes, forcing himself to take deep, calming breaths as he thought through his options.

'_Ok, think Kakashi. He couldn't have gone far; after all his ultimate goal is to….Oh Shit!' _

Kakashi's eyes snapped open as dashed forward, hissing in pain as he caught the giant sword across his shoulder, growling in annoyance as the man danced out of his reach and back into the blinding fog, no one noticing the small smirk that was hidden behind the mask.

'_You just sealed your fate Zabuza.' _

"FUCK!"

Naruto landed on the ground with a loud thud, groaning and cursing silently as Sasuke sprinted up to him, pulling him up before whirling around to protect the blondes back, breath coming in harsh pants as he eyed the surrounding ice warily.

"How you holding up Naruto?"

Naruto groaned as he pulled a throwing needle out of his arm, a wry grin on his features as he answered.

"Never going to complain about Hiro-nii's training again th-ats for sure."

Sasuke snorted in agreement before suddenly pushing Naruto while dodging himself, barely escaping the deadly barrage of needles that landed were they had stood just a half second before.

'_Damn; that was too close. I need to find a way to end this quickly—I can't handle much more of this, and Naruto looks like he could pass out at any second. There has to be a weakness in this jutsu; I'm just not looking closely enough to see it. _

_Comon Uchiha; look!...Follow his movements, read his patterns, anticipa-THERE!' _

"KATON NO JUTSU!"

Sasuke hurled the massive fireball at the swiftly retreating masked boy, grinning in triumph as he noticed the pant leg of the boys reflection was badly burned.

"Naruto; I need you to charge the barrier one more time."

"Why; you got a plan?"

"What do you think? Go now; I don't know how long this will hold up before he does something unpredictable again."

Naruto gave the boy an odd look before squaring his shoulders, taking a deep breath before charging a slight gap in the reflective wall of ice, cursing as the masked boy knocked him back once more, picking himself up with a fiery gleam in his eyes before charging once more.

Sasuke let Naruto get hit the first time, just to make sure that the masked boy wouldn't to something unusual. Smirking as Haku followed the old pattern Sasuke prepared his attack and rushed forward, not noticing the sudden movement until it was too late.

"Katon n-!"

Sasuke let out a shocked gasp of pain as the needles pierced his throat, looking towards Naruto even as he fell.

"R-run you i-diot."

With a sigh the Uchiha collapsed to the ground, his body perfectly—eerily—still as Naruto looked on in horror, frozen in place as Haku landed on the ground and began to speak, foolishly turning his back to the shell-shocked boy.

He didn't know what hit him.

REVIEW PLEASE!


	10. Arata

Fealion:….so TIRED!

Hiroto: Says the girl who pushes buttons all day.

Fealion: HEY! I defend my home now just like you do!

Hiroto: Really? And what do you do to defend it?

Fealion: PUSH BUTTONS!

Hiroto: *sweat drops* Ok; I'll take over from here. _**DISCMLAIMER: **__**FEALION DOES NOT OWN NARUTO**_. If she did it would be nothing short of mass chaos.

Fealion: ON TO THE STORY!

Last time on Taiju no Ho:

"_R-run you I-diot!" _

_With a sigh the Uchiha collapsed on the ground, his body perfectly-eerily-still as Naruto looked on in horror, frozen in place as Haku landed on the ground and began to speak, foolishly turning his back to the shell-shocked boy. _

_He didn't know what hit him. _

Hiroto stopped cold as he felt the explosion of chakra, a darkly amused smirk gracing his face a moment later.

'_So it's begun.' _

Kakashi and Zabuza's eyes widened dramatically as they were hit by a wall of dense chakra, heads whipping around to stare at the icy dome in cautious awe as it crashed down around the three boys, Sakura letting out a strangled scream as she noticed the unmoving and bloody form of Uchiha Sasuke.

The blonde boy that stood over him didn't even flinch, his pure black eyes fixed on the masked boy as the 2 white tomoe swirled lazily around a single tongued flame, his bared teeth giving him a feral edge. The air was tense around the two boys as they faced off, the blonde's grin growing wider at the other ones unconscious step back at the sharp spike in his killer intent. Suddenly the feral blonde appeared behind the masked boy, the other barely having enough time to block a chakra-ladened blow as a shock-wave rippled out from them, the feral boy growling with pleasure as he slowly pushed the other into the bridge-THROUGH the bridge-into the glassy waters below.

"ICE DRAGON JUTSU!"

Said justu shot out of the hole in the bridge, the masked boy riding up on it, flipping off before it came crashing down on the blonde, who merely lifted an eyebrow before performing his own-ah; UNIQUE-jutsu.

"MIYAGAN KATON: FLAME DRAGON JUTSU!"

Zabuza looked on in awe-and a faint twinge of horror-as the flame dragon rushed up to meet one of ice; it was nearly twice as large and had at least 3 times more chakra pumped into it he was sure. The pink haired girl gave a strange squeak while Kakashi just stared; Hiroto however just threw his head back and laughed, a feral glint in his eye and grin on his face as he watched the fascinating display play out before him as Kakashi shivered at the dark passion in that laugh.

'_I think I understand what you meant when you said that there couldn't be too many of your clan now- Hiroto.' _

The two dragons met in a powerful explosion, the two opposing elements cancelling each other out as the two boys escaped the destructive range, the blonde smirking darkly as he noticed the surprised and wary body language of the other boy, opening his mouth to speak one word.

"_Die."_

Red chakra burst out of the boys body as he let out a feral howl, the shockwave ripping into the gathered ninja and forcing everyone to their knees; everyone-that is-except for one. Hiroto's grin grew to the point of apparent madness, flexing his muscles dangerously before racing off towards the boy that was trapped within a visible tornado of chakra, laughing as that same chakra kept him from reaching the boy.

'_Let's show the younger you whose boss eh Kyuubi?' _

'_**What the hell are you waiting for? Fight him already!' **_

'_This will end with one blow.' _

Slowly Hiroto drew out Kitsune-Bi, letting both his and Kyuubi's chakra flow down the blade, raising now blood red eyes to pierce into the equally red eyes of the boy, though it was the boy who flinched as he just smirked.

'_Poor Naruto; he won't know what hit him.' _

'_**Just shut him off already if you don't want every Akatsuki within 16 leagues after you!' **_

'…_.Point taken.' _

Hurriedly Hiroto got into position, raising his katana high above his head before swinging it down with controlled force.

"FUKIKESU(1)!"

A blast of ruby-blue energy shot out from the end of the katana, catching Naruto full on in the chest even as he made to jump out of the way, his roar of rage lost as the attack too made that silent as the oppressive weight of the young blonde's chakra disappeared. Everyone managed to get on wobbly legs as they all stared at the older Namikaze in wonder; whoever was able to get rid of-of THAT so easily deserved a lot of their respect,…..and more than a little of their fear.

"Wh-what the fuck was that?"

Kakashi whipped his head around to glare at the gob smacked mist-nin, pulling up in surprise as he heard Hiroto chuckle in front of them.

"That move was something I created myself; it can negate ANYTHING. The best part is that anyone can learn it; IF I deem them worthy of teaching. As for the crazy-ass chakra…well; I guess your going to have to come with me if you want to find out, won't you?"

Instantly both missing nin were tense, the masked boy hesitantly asking the question after a moment's silence.

"What do you mean by that?"

Hiroto was about to answer when the jeering calls of Gato's men sounded behind them and they whirled around, Zabuza's eyes narrowing in disgust as the boy gave an uncharacteristic snort of indifference.

"What are YOU doing here?"

"*Chuckle* That should be obvious brat; we've co-."

"They've come and are going to try and kill you like the idiots they are."

Gato twitched violently as Hiroto stole his whole 'evil speech of death' thing, silently signaling for his men to go after the blonde first as his face settled in to pure rage.

"Kill them! Kill the loudmouth, the brat, the baby devil;…Kill them ALL!"

This time it was Zabuza's turn to twitch.

"What did you just call me?"

"*smirk* What's wrong 'Baby Devil'; do you not like your new name?"

Zabuza growled deep in his throat, pulling up as the boy put a hand in front to stop him.

"Scum like this aren't worth you time Zabuza; let me take care of them."

The muscular man went still before he slowly nodded his head once;…..once was all it took for the boy. Rolling his weight onto the balls of his feet the boy took off, slicing through the first of Gato's men before they even had time to blink. Gato raged at them to kill the boy, promising their hearts desire if they managed to kill them all. In turn the men leered at the boy, Zabuza watching in triumph-and the others hidden admiration-as the boy effortlessly beat them, not even pausing as he cut through the first wave like a knife through butter.

Blood arched through the air, mingling with the residual mist that formed a disturbingly beautiful sight as more arcs of blood soared through the air, confusion passing over the nins faces as it suddenly stopped-even Sakura had been caught up in the gruesomely beautiful display. Hiroto growled as the scene before them became clear, Zabuza's eyes widening in shock before narrowing into nothing more than slits in terrifying anger.

The boy was being held by three men, the large gash to his stomach ripping painfully as they lifted him high into the air, his purple/yellow skin around the wound speaking of only one thing; poison. Both men let out a hiss of rage as the men started to paw the boy through his clothes, one of them tearing off his mask to gape at the angellic face underneath. With a wicked grin the man leaned down to kiss the boy only to double over in pain as the boy kicked him in the groin, knocking the other two out before retreating to his masters side, deep chocolate eyes full of pain, fear-and shinobi determination. A painful smile crawled onto his delicate face as he looked at his master, fading in and out of consciousness even as he spoke.

"I am sorry I failed you-Zabuza."

With a sigh the boy crumpled to the ground, Hiroto pushing Zabuza towards the enemy as he knelt to tend to the boy.

"Don't just stand there staring like an idiot; go and kick their ass' while I try and heal him!"

Zabuza growled at the blonde before he turned his attention on Gato's band of mercenaries, a malicious grin carving its way onto his face making his coal-black eyes light up with insanity; the men shivered at the death they could see in his crazed orbs. Without warning the Missing Nin was suddenly among them, hacking and slashing at the enemy in a deadly dance, defeating them all within the space of a few minutes, so great was his rage at what they had done to his beautiful weapon.

With a low growl Zabuza turned to Gato, the man as white as a sheet as he looked at the carnage around him, desperately raising his arms in an attempt to shield himself as the muscular man slowly stalked towards him.

"W-WAIT! I'll give you anything; gold, land, fortunes-ANYTHING!"

Slowly Zabuza raised his giant sword above his head, giving one last malicious grin to Gato before disappearing in a swirl of mist.

"….You gave up that chance when you hurt my-weapon. Die Gato-and say hello to my brothers in hell for me will you?"

Gato screamed as he was cut down, his blood flinging out in a wide arc that spanned the length of the bridge. Zabuza snorted with derision before a quiet moan brought him back to the situation at hand, a brief burst of pain and concern flashing across his features before a more acceptable expression of annoyance settled in-though he snorted and rolled his eyes at the look the blonde was giving him, just KNOWING that the insanely powerful man wouldn't let him live it down.

"I-I am sorry Z-Zabuza."

"What for ?"

"For n-not being the weapon you wanted me to be."

"*humph* Is that all? Don't blame yourself kid; they're the ones that were underhanded enough for fucking POISON-vary rare and dangerous poison at that. I would've actually done slightly worse than what you did when it entered your system-I'm surprised you could fight back at all, let alone have enough energy to come back to me before collapsing."

"I would do anything to make your dream a reality Zabuza."

"Yea; yea. Just so you know; just cause I'm not mad at you for failing doesn't mean that I'm not going to improve your training-can't have something like this incapacitating my favorite weapon again now can I Haku?"

The newly named boy smiled softly and nodded his head before closing his eyes, curling against his masters chest as Hiroto handed him off to the man (silently sniggering at the stupefied look on his face).

"Namikaze-san?"

"Please Haku; Namikaze or Hiroto is just fine."

"….What did you mean when you said that we would have to 'come with you?'"

"What I mean-Haku-is not only have I found out as much as I could about you I also know the REAL reason you fled the Hidden Mist. I have the scroll right here if you doubt my word."

The two stared at him in shock before Zabuza regained enough sense to ask Hiroto for the scroll in an unusually soft voice before opening it, unconsciously drawing Haku closer as he did so.

Smirking at the display of affection Hiroto Hiraishined over to his two brothers, smiling sadly at the injuries they sustained before performing a mid-level healing jutsu on them. Gathering the boys up in his arms Hiroto made his way over to Kakashi, handing Naruto over with a knowing smile before gently repositioning Sasuke in his arms, his attention turning back to the nins as they finished reading the scroll.

"Is this the only copy?"

"No; thankfully. After finding that one I made copies of it and sent them to all the countries and hidden villages I could think of; by noon tomorrow all known nations will know of the Mists treachery-AND of your true role in the shaping of your country.

Now you have a choice to make; will you join us, or will you have to fight?"

"*sigh*…..Just show them the damn thing already. We'll take care of the idiots behind us and then you can take us back to your village-on ONE CONDITION."

"And that would be….?"

"No matter what happens, don't let anyone so much as TOUCH Haku or I swear I'll make your life hell even from beyond the grave."

"Same goes for my 'brothers'."

Zabuza looked confused for a second before he looked at the two boys in Kakashi's and Hiroto's arms, a slight softening of his eyes letting the others know that he understood.

"Come Haku; lets show these idiotic men the real meaning of fear."

One slim, graceful hand came up to grasp the mans shoulder, gently lowering himself to the ground and testing his movements before grabbing a couple of senbon and nodding resolutely.

"Stay behind me until you regain your strength; understood?"

Pale pink lips quirked up into a smile.

"As you wish Zabuza."

******Somewhere in the Hidden Sound********

The boy ran through the tunnels, desperate to be the first to show what he had found to his lord before someone else did-after all, everyone knew that if you pleased him, you weren't 'experimented' on that night. Bursting into his lords throne room the boy threw himself on the ground, holding the scrolls high above his head as the cold golden gaze swept over him.

"My Lord! This has just come from the Village Hidden in the Mist! It claims that the uprising in Mist-during which Zabuza Momochi and other members of the Seven Swordsman disappeared-was staged a-!"

"Give me that!"

A pale white hand whipped the scroll out of the boys trembling hands, willowy fingers deftly breaking the seal as those eyes drank in the information written on it, face twisting into a calculating smirk.

"How very interesting; very interesting indeed."

The boy heaved a sigh of relief; he wouldn't be subjected to anything tonight; not with how happy his lord sounded.

"You are excused from your treatment tonight; you may go now-Dosu(2)."

&&&&&&Somewhere deep in Earth Country&&&&&&&&&&&&

Silence.

So-peaceful.

'_A peace I will make sure to destroy.' _

_The man(3) who thought this closed his eyes and calmly sipped on his tea, never allowing himself to fall completely into the places spell of-complacency. Which is why he didn't so much as flinch as his minion came up to him, though his eyes did snap open-wide as possible-when he heard the news, his scream echoing throughout the countryside. _

_1. Erase _

_2. I figured that he couldn't rule with fear alone now could he? _

_3. BET YOU CAN'T GUESSS WHO THIS IS! _

_(Sorry it's short; I just couldn't bear making it any longer than this.)_

_Fealion: WMHAAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAA! _

_Naruto:….ummm; Fea-chan? _

_Fealion: Yea? _

_Naruto:…..What are you doing? _

_Fealion: I'm just happy cause I got this chapter done! WHOOO! _

_Naruto: O-okay then. _

_Hiroto (from the other room): Just ignore her when she gets like that Naruto; you'll live longer; trust me. _

_Fealion: MEANIE! _

_PLEASE REVIEW! Messages are awesome too!_


	11. Shirudo

Fealion: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

Hiroto:…Umm; Fea?

Fealion: I finally got my plot bunny to co-operate! Well;…kinda.

Hiroto: What do you mean kinda?

Fealion:…IT WAS SOOOO MEAN! It crawled under the bunk and I tried everything to get it out. I tried waiting for it, giving it food and sweets, signing to it and reading it bedtime stories….I even tried to grab it and got bit; 4 TIMES!

Hiroto: Ohhh; is that why it's in a cage suspended above molten lava?

Fealion: YUP! Hopefully it won't feel like I'm pulling teeth with the next chapter.

Hiroto: Riiiight; I'm going to go now.

Fealion: Bye! ON TO THE STORY!

"HOW DARE THEY!"

The blonde haired man roared as he stalked down an alleyway, pounding his fist into the wall in frustration before slumping against it, like he had suddenly been stripped of all energy.

'_How dare they try and tear our family apart!' _

'_***chuckle* At least now they'll think twice before even mentioning it eh?' **_

'_What do you mean?' _

'_**Oh common; don't tell me that I was the only one to notice how half of 'em wanted to piss their pants!' **_

Hiroto couldn't help but grin as the last few hours replayed in his head; Kyuubi was right—it would be awhile before they even HINTED at something so—repulsive again.

***************3 Hours Earlier**********************************************************

"….should we allow you to stay in Konohakagure?"

The nin in question gave a shark-like grin to the council above him, chuckling to himself as he saw them flinch back minutely.

"Why should you let me stay you ask?

I'll tell you.

I am one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist; expert of the Silent Killing technique and the Kiri master of kenjutsu. My ward and weapon-Haku-is the last of his clan and if I were to pledge loyalty to this village he would as well—your village could benefit from a new kekki genkai, could it not?"

A lazy grin spread across the man's face as he watched the—the sheep in wolves clothing that lead the people of Konoha debate among themselves.

'_I wonder what they would do in the presence of a REAL wolf.'_

A chuckle once again escaped the man as he watched them avidly, taking a second to glance over to were Haku stood with the man that made this current _'negotiation_' possible;-Kobayashi-Namikaze Hiroto, nephew to the 4th Hokage and current head of the Namikaze clan. Zabuza had to subdue a minute shiver that raced down his spine as he remembered the absolute POWER that had rolled off of the blondes frame as he took down whatever had possessed the little blonde brat with little more than a swing of his sword. Not to mention the chilling laugh that he emitted when he first felt the power…..

This was not a man to be trifled with.

Zabuza's attention was forced back to the council as their spokesperson stood up, eyes narrowing as he noticed the ANBU silently tighten their circle around them.

"We have reached a decision.

Momochi Zabuza, Aisukawa(1) Haku—you are to stay with Kobayashi Hiroto for the entire period of 2 months, during which you will be participating in whatever mission comes to Team 7 as well as serving as proctors for part of the Chunin Exams that are taking place next week. You will obey every order that Kobayashi-can gives out or we will not hesitate to put the price in the bingo book to good use. If you can prove yourself loyal and obedient within those 2 months we will grant you citizenship within Konohakagure.

Am I understood?"

Zabuza growled, fixing his piercing gaze on the other.

"Crystal."

Zabuza tensed even more as the ANBU once again shifted closer to them as he made his way to Haku and Hiroto, giving the blonde a sharp nod as an eyebrow rose expectantly.

"Let's get outta here; the creep brigade is doing their job a little TOO well if ya ask me."

A smirk graced Hiroto's face before making to turn towards the door—an instant later and they were surrounded, a dozen katana touching various lethal spots all over their bodies as Zabuza snarled at them viciously. The council smirked.

"And where do you think you're going, Kobayashi-san? There is still the matter of Uchiha and the demon brat to discuss. Please; _SIT_."

The three were forced into a sitting position as the council looked on smugly, Hiroto moving to glare as them with fire in his eyes.

"And what—precisely—do we need to discuss about them?"

"It has come to our attention that you—along with the demon spawn—"

"You will NOT refer to Naruto that way!"

"I will refer to that hell spawn however I choose Kobayashi-kun.

The council has agreed; you are to remove _'Naruto_' from the Uchiha's presence immediately."

"Oh; and what if I don't?"

"There will be—consequences."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that no one would lose any sleep if the demon were to suddenly—disappear."

Hiroto snapped his head up in fury, the council making the mistake of looking directly into his eyes; what they saw would haunt them the rest of their days.

Chips of obsidian ice stared back at them, the twin-tongued ebony flame that lay in the center piercing their souls even as the white vortex surrounding the flame kept them from escaping. The flame seemed to get larger and larger the longer they stared at it, inexplicably radiating evil far worse than anything they could have ever imagined. Whispers and half spoken thoughts flitted through their head, caressing them with an ice cold touch that made their senses scream at them to repent lest they fall into the dark oblivion of his eyes.

Whimpers and harsh breaths were the only things heard within the chamber; each too afraid to direct the full intensity of the gaze upon themselves. Zabuza and Haku looked around them to the effects of their probationers' jutsu with concealed apprehension, recognizing that the only reason they weren't targeted was they hadn't said anything against the boy. As if reading their minds Hiroto snapped his gaze in their direction, looking them over before nodding to them.

"Take Haku and find Naruto and Sasuke and bring them back to the complex. Let no one enter until I return. Can you do that for me Zabuza?"

The former mist nin stared at the blonde haired man for a time before nodding, sneering derisively at the ANBU who still surrounded them, grinning as they hastily backed away. With a short jerk of his head he signaled Haku to follow, disappearing out the door even as Hiroto put the next stage of his plan into action.

"Miyagan: Nagorikae no Jutsu (2)!"

Instantly everyone's eyes became unseeing and glassy, their memory of the past hour and a half erasing itself from existence.

"You have just declared former missing nins Momochi Zabuza and Aisukawa Haku as wards of Konoha under my care for the next 2 months. They will be accompanying my team on any missions we may be assigned and will also be proctors in the upcoming Chunin exams. If they can pass the waiting period they will become full-fledged ninja of Konohakagure. You will NOT let on as to your displeasure at having Naruto or I live with Sasuke and will take NO ACTION WHATSOEVER against the boy and you will remember your fear, even if you cannot remember_ WHY_.

Now; let's try this again.

KAI (3)!"

With that Hiroto shifted to stand in the middle of the room, smirking slightly as the gathered ANBU shook their head in confusion before noticing their open position, a couple of them cursing before fading back into the shadows of the chamber. It had taken another HOUR of negotiation and reassurances that the two nin wouldn't run rampant throughout Konoha before Hiroto was allowed to leave the chamber and another 20 minutes after that before he could even step outside the damn building.

Sighing Hiroto straightened from his position against the wall, taking a deep breath before using the Hiraishin to appear before the Uchiha Compound, chuckling wryly as he felt a senbon against his neck.

"Don't worry Haku; it's just me."

"I take it you were able to_ 'negotiate' _with them?"

"*snort* Not so much negotiation as erasing their memory of their little _'slip-up'_. Damn idiots.

Where are Zabuza and the boys?"

"Zabuza is keeping them confined to the main living room for now; less of an area to cover."

"*sigh* Common; we had better go and rescue him before they drive him into a homicidal rage."

Hiroto and Haku made their way up to the main house, the both of them pausing to look at each other before bursting inside at the sound of Zabuza's enraged yell, only to stop short in confusion at the sight that greeted them. Well; Haku was confused—Hiroto just burst out laughing.

A bright green _'thing'_ with bubblegum pink hair chased a blonde blur around the room with a purple sword waving menacingly behind him, a black haired boy clutching at his stomach as he shook in silent laughter before the_ 'thing_' turned its murderous gaze on him, at which point he gave a very manly _'Eeep!_' and proceeded to run around the room with the blonde blur with the _'thing'_ hot on their tail. Unfortunately for those involved as Hiroto moved to stop Za—the_ 'thing'_ from killing his _'brothers'_ Kakashi popped in right in front of the blonde blur, resulting in a spectacular show of falling acrobatics that ended up in an uncomfortable heap of tangled limbs and crushed bodies.

"*groan*…..What did you do Naruto?"

Said blonde popped up from where he was sprawled against his silver-haired sensei's chest, hitting it with a flat hand while he pouted up at the man.

"Why do you think it's my fault?"

"For one Sasuke has too much of a preservation instinct to piss off one of the SEVEN SWORDSMEN, Haku is as clueless as a rock, I didn't get here until a second ago and Hiroto has been at a meeting for the past 3 hours. Who else could it be?"

"….Pakkun?"

"…He isn't even HERE right now."

"Aww common; I was bored!"

"How could you get bored in an hour and a half?"

"Zabuza wouldn't let us go and get anything from our rooms to play with!"

"*snort* So says the Dobe; I was perfectly content with meditating."

"You weren't meditating you were sleeping!"

"I WAS NO-!"

The two boys suddenly found themselves swinging by their ankles as Hiroto held them high above his head, glaring at the two before turning his attention to his fellow jounin.

"Not that I don't like you Kakashi….but what are you doing here?"

"Ah; I wanted to ask you if you thought that our team was ready to take on the Chunin exams next week. It would give them a chance to see what they may have to go up against in the future and expose them to more fighting styles than just fire and mist."

"…I don't see a problem with it; Suna will be taking part in the exams as well won't they?"

"They will along with some grass nin a new village; the only thing we know about it at this point in time is that is known as the Sound."

"Hn; and the Hokage let this unknown village just waltz into the competition?"

"Well to be fair the treaty for-."

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TURN ME BACK TO NORMAL?"

At this point everyone turned to look at Zabuza—who was in a wide stance with his purple sword high above his head with a crazed look in his eye—before bursting out laughing once more, this time even Haku joining in with the occasional giggle or two. Just as the spiky haired man was about to slaughter them all Hiroto did a hand sign to cancel the genjutsu, turning to reprimand Naruto as Zabuza ran to the nearest mirror to confirm that he could once again go out in public.

"Naruto! That is NOT what the Kōha is used for!"

"But you should have seen him! He was doing the ram sign and yelling "Kai!" for 30 minutes straight before he figured out that I was the only one that could take it off and started chasing me!"

Hiroto broke out into a fresh round of laughter at that, ruffling the young blonde's hair before turning to Kakashi.

"If the exams are next week we should give them some last minute training, ne Kakashi-sensei? Maybe we should ask Haku and Zabuza to help?"

Kakashi grinned widely at the two boys' moans before nodding enthusiastically before disappearing to go get Sakura as they trialed miserably behind Hiroto; the next few days were going to be HELL.

1. Aisukawa-Literally means "Ice River." I had to give him SOME kinda last name.

2. Hopefully it means "Memory Change Art" or something similar.

3. This should be obvious to anyone who has watched OR read Naruto.

Fealion: Up next: The Chunin Exams! YAY! I will get started on that ASAP so look for the first half soon. Good; bad? Lemme know PLEASE!


	12. Chunin Shiren Ichi

Fealion: I'm done! The first bit of the Chunin Exams is DONE! HOLLA!

Hiroto:….What the hell has gotten into you?

Fealion: Sorry; I get a mini-high every time I complete a chapter. I just feel so accomplished!

Hiroto: Uh-huh….wasn't there something you wanted to say?

Fealion: Oh yea! Thanks to everybody who not only reads my stories, but also puts up with my sporadic updating and random babbling.

Oh! To Nariki: here is Gaara-sama! It's not very long, unfortunately, but he's in there. There will be more of him in the next chapter, I promise!

You want your name up here? Leave a review!

On to the story!

Hiroto: WAIT!...Naruto and any of its merchandise belong to its creator and the company the man writes for; you many continue now.

87134-82598475--274759843

"HEEEEEEEEEEELP ~!"

A blonde blur rocketed through the streets of Konoha, desperately trying to shake off the enraged black blur that followed in its wake.

"Get back here Naruto! I promise it will only hurt A LOT!"

Panicked the young blonde forced even more chakra into his legs, managing to turn a corner and throw up the Kōha while flattening himself against the wall, waiting with baited breath as his pursuer rounded the corner seconds later, senses on high alert as he tried to figure out where the aggravating blonde had disappeared to. Slowly said blonde crept from the scene, letting out a large sigh of relief and dropping the genjutsu once he was far enough away.

'_ call Haku a girly-man EVER! I thought he was going to kill me!' _

'_***snort* Yea right; like I would have let you die before I got out.' **_

'…_.What? Who're you?' _

'…_**.You shou—…..Is that a. . .square rock?' **_

'_Huh?' _

'_**Look down moron.' **_

'_Hey!' _

Sure enough when Naruto looked down there was a light tan, heavily cragged _SQUARE _rock that didn't fit in with its surroundings _AT ALL_. Giving said rock the stink eye Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, kicking the box slightly as he spoke.

"Alright Konohamaru; I _KNOW_ you're under there!"

With an overdramatic flair the box tipped over, revealing not only the young Sarutobi, but Moegi and Udon as well.

"Just what I expected from my greatest rival!"

Naruto looked around panicked, as if Haku could find him just from Konohamaru's voice.

"Shhh! Not so loud!"

"But you said you were going to play ninja with us today Naruto~!"

"Ehhheheh—Sorry; kinda busy at the moment."

"What for? You're just standing th—!"

Konohamaru yelped as a senbon whipped past his ear and buried itself into the wall behind him. Naruto turned around slowly, eyes going wide as he caught sight of the eerily calm young man.

"….That's a girl right?"

Naruto silently cursed as he saw the tensing of Haku's shoulders, icy fear running through his veins as the long-haired boy raised his head.

"You guys wanna play ninja?"

"YES!"

"Good; RUN!"

With that the blonde ninja took off, the younger three sprinting to catch up as they caught the look on the other boys face. The four of them flew through the streets of Konoha with a speed that could only be obtained through ninja training; until Konohamaru bumped into a man in a cat suit with purple face paint that is.

"That hurt."

Naruto didn't like the look in the man's eyes, his uneasy feeling proven correct when the man grabbed Konohamaru by the scruff of his shirt a second later. Pulling tight so that Konohamaru choked a little the man let a sadistic smirk play at his lips, sneering at the woman behind him when she spoke.

"Stop it; we'll be punished if you keep this up."

"But I wanted to_ 'play'_ a little before the exams."

"_*sigh* _I'm not going to take any part in this."

"Fine; more fun for me."

"I don't know who you are, but you are going to let go of Konohamaru—_NOW_."

The man turned to look at Naruto, eyes opening fully as he fixed him with a hard stare.

"Make me."

Naruto stared at the man for a time, taking in his stance and the feel of his chakra, knowing better than to just blindly charge after the _'lessons'_ that he had been taught over the past few days. Cautiously he took a step forward, smirking when the man's fingers twitched slightly. Slowly Naruto let his chakra seep from him, making sure to keep the man's attention on him rather than the fluctuating chakra. Suddenly four shadow clones popped up next to the man, startling him and giving them time to wrench Konohamaru from his grasp with a well-placed blow to his wrist, smirking cheekily at him before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Why you little brat! I bet you think you're soooo clever, don't you? I hate kids like you."

"I'm not clever; I just know a bully when I see one."

With an agitated growl the man ripped off a . . . _thing _from his back, the blonde woman behind him giving a little start of surprise.

"You're going to use Karasu?"

Before the man could reply a deep, dark voice sounded out from the shadows, making the two shudder nervously.

"Stop Kankuro."

Naruto whipped his head around to look at this new addition—taking in his hard, icy foam green eyes surrounded by dark kohl framed by short spikes of blood red hair, the ease in which he kept up his chakra in control for the tree and the sense of _something_ more that seemed to hang in the air around him.

'_**Shukaku.' **_

'_Huh?' _

'_**The chakra brat; definitely shu-shu.' **_

Naruto snorted.

'_Shu-shu?' _

He didn't get to find out the voices answer though, his attention brought back to the red haired boy when he again spoke.

"You are a disappointment to our village, Kankuro."

The newly dubbed Kankuro jumped at this proclamation, smiling uneasily as he shifted back slightly.

"G-gaara—."

"Shut up. I'll kill you."

A look of intense fear passed over both of their faces, making Naruto wonder as to exactly _WHO _this boy was.

"I-it was my fault. I'm sorry; I'm really sorry."

The boy narrowed his eyes before using a sand transportation jutsu to appear right next to the older two, straightening and glaring at them before turning to walk away.

"Let's go: we didn't come here to fool around."

Naruto watched as the three Suna nins walked away; they were undoubtedly here for the exams, but the way that this _'Gaara' _had spoken….Naruto didn't like it. Sighing he turned his attention to the three academy students, absently noting that Haku wasn't trying to kill him anymore.

"Are you alright Konohamaru?"

"H-hai, Naruto Nii-chan."

"Good; you should get home. I need to get back to my team anyway. Can't have Sasu-teme learning more than I do, can we?"

The three younger children nodded their heads before bouncing off enthusiastically; Haku giving a sharp nod of his head as the blonde looked at him questioningly, giving one last glance to the three unknown nin that hid within the shadows of a tree before they headed back towards their team.

Sasuke looked out lazily over the river, pointedly ignoring Sakura as she ranted about Naruto's stupidity, silently quirking an eyebrow as he noticed an irate looking Iruka marching towards them, smirking slightly as the chunin made his way to the two jounin, planting his feet firmly and his hands on his hips as he nailed them down with two furious brown eyes.

"What is this I hear about you recommending Team 7 to take part in the Chunin exams?"

The silver haired jounin turned slightly to stare at the man with one lazy eye, the other rubbing the back of his head and chuckling nervously as Iruka continued to stare at them hotly.

"Well?"

"What of it?"

"It's obviously not true; is it?"

"And what if I told you it was?"

"…..Are you serious Kakashi-sensei? They haven't even been genin for a year yet—not to mention the lack of missions that they have taken outside of the village! They are still too young and inexperienced!"

"I became a Chunin when I was 6 years _YOUNGER_ than Naruto."

"Naruto is not you; Sakura is _NOT_ you; hell, even _SASUKE_ is _NOT YOU_! Are you _TRYING_ to ruin them?"

"...You have not seen what I have Iruka. In the months since they graduated _YOUR_ academy and became_ MY_ team they have made improvements almost as fast as the snow melts in spring…Though ruining them would be interesting as well."

"What?"

Sasuke sighed at Kakashi's idiocy, swiftly moving to lay a hand on Iruka's arm as the cinnamon skinned man moved to withdraw a kunai out of his pocket, waiting until those chocolate orbs had focused on his own before speaking.

"Iruka-sensei; …. do you really think so little of us? Are we really that weak that you have make decisions and fight our battles for us? Our team has some of the best raw talent since the_ LAST_ Chunin exams; I have fully awakened my Sharingan, Naruto is in the process of learning the Miyagan and already has complete mastery of the Kōha, and Sakura has already mastered the basics of medical genjutsu.

Plus we are being taught kendo and stealth by Zabuza and renaissance by Haku.

We are—and have been—taught by some of the best ninja in Konoha; if nothing else, give us enough dignity to have _FATIH_ in the fact that the ones who have been training us _BELIEVE_ that we know enough to be ready."

Iruka stared after the young Uchiha as he turned and began to walk away, his words echoing through Iruka's mind.

"Sasuke!"

The raven haired boy turned back to look at the man, smirking slightly at the large grin on the man's face.

"Good luck!"

With a nod of his head Sasuke stared Iruka a while longer, a soft smile working its way onto his lips before he turned to walk back to the complex, smiling fully as warm laughter rang out behind him.

The beginning of the exam was 3 days away; he just hoped that they were truly ready.

-3 days later-

Naruto sighed as he and Sasuke stood outside of the school entrance, both of them impatiently waiting for a certain pink-haired kunoichi so that they could head inside the academy.

"Ma~, Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"What room did Hiro-nii say it was again?"

"301…..Sakura's late."

" No du—oh! There she is!"

Panting the pink-haired girl stopped in front of them, grinning sheepishly as the two boys looked at her pointedly.

"Sorry; my mom kept on trying to get me to wear a completely unpractical dress for the exams today; it took me a good 2 hours to sneak away from her."

"Yea, yea, yea; now that you're here can we go now?"

Sakura huffed and bopped Naruto upside the head, the two boys eyes meeting—Naruto shrugging and Sasuke rolling his eyes—before heading inside after her and into the large crowd. Making their way to the front they stared in confusion at the two genin that were blocking the doorway; until they looked up that is. Watching for a while as the kid in the jumpsuit and the girl with the buns were knocked back (they let themselves) the three finally stepped up, leveling the two in front of the door with a blank look.

"What; don't tell me that little genin like you want to take the exam as well?"

"Actually yes; we do. But before that—why are you guarding the WRONG room?"

"What?"

"Please; Sharingan, Miyagan and high IQ? I'm surprised that you'd think we'd fall for that, not to mention that we're on the SECOND FLOOR, not the third."

The two genin gave a jerk of surprise, releasing the jutsu before one of them grinned wryly, opening his eye to take a closer look at them.

"You're pretty good. But just being able to detect it isn't enough…"

Without warning the genin made to attack Sasuke as the boy launched into an attack of his own only for both of them to have their legs caught by the jumpsuit kid, his firm grip keeping them from moving one way or the other. After a few seconds Sasuke was able to wrench his leg free, all three looking at him with undisguised curiosity.

'_He stopped my kick with chakra; this is no normal genin.' _

"Hey, you broke the promise. You're the one who didn't want to gather attention by doing something that stood out."

Naruto turned his head to take in the new speaker as he stepped up to the jumpsuit man with bun-head; the dude looked kinda girly with long black hair and pale lavender eyes.

"But…"

The bun-girl shook her head.

"It must be because of her…."

The jumpsuit boy confidently strode towards Sakura, stopping a short distance from her and adopting the good guy pose.

'_Oh no.' _

"My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura-san, right?"

"…What?"

"Let's go out together; I will protect you until the day that I die!"

Everybody stared at the boy for a while, the silence nearly bordering on uncomfortable before Sakura gave a small smile.

"Sure; why not?"

Lee was frozen for a second before he whooped with joy, picking Sakura up and spinning her around before setting her down again, the two of them talking among themselves as the girlie-boys attention was drawn to the two boys.

Hey, you there. Identify yourself."

Naruto and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at each other before turning to the boy.

"Which one of us did you mean?"

"Both."

"*hn* You're supposed to introduce yourself before you ask."

"You guys are rookies aren't you? How old are you?"

"Like we're gonna tell you that."

The boy's brows scrunched together in anger, as if he were furious that they would keep information from_**him**_. Naruto snorted.

'_Pompous arse.' _

"What?"

Naruto and Sasuke stared at the girlie-boy for a while longer before turning to go up the stairs, dragging Sakura away from Lee as they went. As they headed up the stairs Sasuke couldn't help but think of the power-houses that had gathered at this years' exam, a brief glance at Naruto revealing that he was thinking the same thing.

'_If nothing else, this year's exams will be interesting.' _

Fealion: AAAAAAND CUT! Whoo~!

Hiroto:…You know; your thing in the beginning was a shameless plea for more reviews.

Fealion: Hey; I figure that if they don't do it when you ask nicely, why not appeal to their vanity?

Hiroto: True.

Fealion: On that note, see ya'll next time!


	13. Chunin Shiren Ni

Fealion: Whoo! Exams the 2nd done!

Hiroto: Kakashi's pouting.

Fealion: Why?

Hiroto: He hasn't gotten any closer to "his Naruto" yet…And Sasuke and Iruka haven't kissed yet.

Fealion: I'm getting there! I just gotta make it realistic! Like anyone would believe that they would fall in love in one day!

Hiroto: Don't you think I know that?

Fealion:_ *grumble*_Baka Kakashi….Anywho; people to thank!

**Girlwithfavorites:** I'm glad you like the inner turmoil I'm putting Hiroto threw; though it won't be much longer until he gets what he wants (just not in a way he EVER expected).

**KimiwaDaredaBokuwaLambo**: Damn you've got a long name: here's more for you!

**Avid30:** I'm glad you like!

To everyone else thank you for reading!

_**I DON'T OWN NARUTO! LEAVE ME ALONE! **_

On to the story!

"Naruto! Why did you pull me away?"

"We gotta beat this exam and become chunin, believe it!"

"Bu—Sasuke why did you pull me away? I thought you would enjoy such an obvious display of non-fangirl-ism."

Sasuke raised one dark eyebrow in amusement, a small smirk playing at his lips as he continued to help Naruto drag Sakura up the stairs.

"Oh trust me; I do. But my reason is the same as Naruto; granted the—objectives are different but the goal is the same; become chunin."

'_Naruto…Namikaze Naruto and…..Uchiha Sasuke?' _

"Do they interest you?"

Girly-boy jerked out of his contemplation at bun-heads words, snorting dismissively before heading off after the younger team, bun-head following and Lee—Lee was staring off into space with a star-struck expression.

"Lee? You coming?...Lee~?"

"Huh; oh! You guys go ahead; there is something I want to check out."

Bun-head turned to girly-boy, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"What's that about?"

"How should I know?"

Team Seven walked towards the open courtyard on the second floor—why they would have an open courtyard on the second floor never made sense, but they had to go through it to get to the stairs to the third floor. They were just about to step out from the overhang when a voice called to them.

"Wait a minute you guys!"

Turning around they watched as Lee jumped down from the balcony, landing and shifting into a fighting stance even as he smiled at them brilliantly.

"Will you do me the honor of fighting me here; now?"

"Now? Why?"

"Yes now; I would like to see how my taijutsu does against and Uchiha _AND_ the Miyagan."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Naruto sniggered.

"Are you sure you don't just wanna show off for Sakura?"

Lee and Sakura blushed a bright pink at Naruto's words, Sakura looking at the ground shyly while Lee shuffled from foot to foot.

"That may be….._part_ of the reason why."

Naruto laughed as Sasuke smirked, the both of them sliding into their own fighting positions; Naruto grinning widely before speaking.

"Well then; we had better get started."

Naruto went first, aiming a flying kick at Lee's midsection and yelping out in surprise as the boy expertly dodged his attack and sent him careening into a nearby wall. Seeing his chance Sasuke went on the offensive, cursing as Lee dodged his attack as well, the two of them dancing around each other for a while until he too was knocked back. Getting up and rubbing his chin Sasuke joined Naruto in circling the green-clad boy predatorily, smirking as they each silently activated their dojutsu's before moving in for the kill. Sasuke engaged Lee first, letting the boy's upper kick connect with his chin, his smug smirk registering in the boys mind the same instant Naruto pile-drove him from the side, sending him careening into a pillar on the opposite end of the courtyard.

Lee got up after a moment's hesitation, smiling wryly at the two younger boys even as he slid back into his fighting stance.

"Where did you learn do become so quick?"

The boys smirked, both of their tomoe swirling lazily as they spoke.

"Kakashi-sensei, Hiro-nii, Zabuza and Haku have been training us non-stop for a month: sorry to say, but your speed doesn't even _compare_ to Haku's."

"Oh really? Well maybe I sho—."

"That's enough Rock Lee."

All three boys turned their attention to the direction of the voice, Sasuke and Naruto looking on in confusion and de-activating their dojutsu as Lee quickly dashed forward to kneel in front of a—turtle? Team Seven looked on in horrified fascination as Lee proceeded to be soundly reamed out for starting their battle, looking at each other when it became too weird to pay attention to.

"That is a turtle;…right?"

"I think so….I didn't know that turtles could become sensei's too?"

"Who knows?"

All three turned back to the odd spectacle, eyes widening as the turtle—summoned? a sensei out of thin air.

"YOU GUYS ARE IN THE SPRING-TIME OF YOUR YOUTH, ARENT YOU?"

All three nearly choked on their own spit, taken completely off guard.

'_WHAT THE HELL?' _

This dude was dressed almost exactly like Lee—or was Lee almost dressed exactly like him?—right down to the bowl cut and super thick eyebrows. They watched the interaction between the two with an odd sort of fascination; Sakura lunging forward to catch Lee as he was socked across the cheek.

"Lee!"

Sakura hugged him to her, glaring slightly at the older man as she help Lee sit up.

"And who is this Lee?"

"This—this is my girlfriend….Haruno Sakura-chan Gai-sensei!"

Immediately Gai's eyes began watering, tears flowing down his cheeks even as Lee gave him a pointed look.

"You know that Ayaka-san doesn't like it when you do that Gai-sensei."

The older man's face fell, a dark cloud of moody depression settling over him. Sighing Lee stood up, smiling at Sakura reassuringly before placing a hand on his sensei's arm, grinning widely as the man looked up at him.

"Comon Gai-sensei; let's go run around all of Konoha to express our youth; how does 100 laps sound?"

Enthusiastically Gai hugged Lee, nearly crushing the poor boy before he began heading towards the exit, the both of them stopping as Naruto called out to them.

"What about the exam?"

"Oh; that reminds me Lee. I will have to punish you for fighting and breaking your promise after the exams; so for now you are to do 500 laps!"

"Hai, Gai-sensei!"

Team Seven stared after them, twitching as Gai looked back at them, seemingly remembering something.

"By the way; how is Kakashi-sensei?"

"Huh?"

"Surely you've heard of me; I am known as his greatest rival!"

They watched as the man disappeared from sight, calmly turning and raising an eyebrow as he appeared behind them and smiled his_ 'good-guy'_ smile.

"The score between us is 50 wins; 49 losses. I just thought I should let you know that I am stronger than Kakashi."

The three younger genin just stared at him for a while, Naruto snorting as he arrived to a conclusion.

"That may be true; but then again, you've never fought against Hiro-nii—have you? Kakashi has at _FULL_ _STRENGTH_ and has only managed to _STRATCH_ Hiro-nii during their free moments in the month that they have been training us; I doubt that there is _ANYONE_ who could defeat him if he decided to get serious."

Gai seemed put out that he had been dismissed so easily by his rivals team before a thought made him perk up, nodding to Lee with determination.

"You will have to do those laps without me Lee; it looks like I have to go and defend my honor by beating this _'Hiro-nii'_. Until tomorrow my most_ YOUTHFUL _student!"

"Good luck Gai-sensei!"

Gai smiled before disappearing in a _'poof!_' of smoke, the turtle doing the same thing as Lee turned to face them.

"I must be going; I hope to face you in the upcoming exams. Until next time, my lovely Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked on with a glazed look as Lee effortlessly jumped up to the balcony, watching until he was out of sight before sighing and turning to Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom were grinning—well, Naruto grinned; Sasuke smirked—widely.

"The chunin exams just got a lot more interesting."

Naruto's grin turned mischievous, the blonde poking Sasuke in the side and retreating before he could retaliate.

"You're just happy that Sakura got a boyfriend; now if we could find someone for Ino….."

"_*snort*_ She's going to be ten times harder than I was; after all, she only goes after _'beautiful'_ people."

"_*hn* _Lets go; we still have to register for the exams."

Nodding their heads the two fell in behind Sasuke, all three pausing at the large doors to room 301, glancing at each other before taking a steadying breath before pushing them open.

'…_**HOLY SHIT**__;…that—that's a lot of people.'_

The three genin stared gob smacked at the number of other genin that had turned out for the exams; until Ino decided to glomp Sasuke that is.

"Sasuke! You're late! I've been eagerly waiting for you ever since I heard that I could see you after the _LONGEST_ time!"

Team Seven stared at the blonde airhead dryly, a tick forming above Sasuke's eyebrow as she refused to get_ OFF _him.

"Ino; let Sasuke go."

"And why should I listen to you billboard-brow?"

Sakura's fist tightened at the hated nickname, looking up as Naruto put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly even as he rested his pseudo-brother from Ino's grasp.

"Do I have to go and get Hino-nii again Ino?"

Immediately the blonde paled, smiling nervously even as she hid behind the other members of her team, the lazy Nara sighing as Akimichi munched on a bag of chips.

"What; are you three going to take this troublesome exam too?"

"Oh hey Shikamaru, Choji; I see that the idiot trio is all here."

"Damnit; stop calling us that!"

"Hey guys!"

Team Seven turned to watch yet another team walk up to them, this one consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Naruto groaned; Hinata was as shy as hell, Kiba always acted like he was king of the hill, and Shino—he really didn't know Shino all that well.

Maybe he should change that?

He looked around as the other two teams began to banter among themselves, noticing the dirty looks and glares that got sent their way as they continued to argue about who would win. All three members of Team Seven narrowed their eyes as a silver haired Konoha nin walked up to them; Hiroto had told them not to trust this—Kabuto.

"Hey you guys; you should settle down… You are the rookies from the academy right? God; this isn't some play mission you can fool around in you know."

Ino huffed angrily, letting go of Sasukes arm—that she had somehow managed to grab—to place her hands on her hips.

"And who are you to tell us that?"

The silver haired nin smirked, not noticing the distrustful stares that Team Seven sent his way.

"Yakushi Kabuto; take a look around you."

It was only then that the other Rookie Nine seemed to notice the stares they gathered from the other genin; like they were pieces of meat to be eaten.

"The ones behind you are from Amekagure; they have pretty short tempers. I'm only telling you this so that you don't get your asses beat before the exams even begin; but then again you are rookies…..I suppose I can give the cute rookies some information; never hurts to be prepared."

The others watched his hands as Kabuto pulled out a stack of orange cards; Naruto watched his eyes.

…_.There! _

The blonde was positive that if he wasn't looking for it he would have missed it, but the older genins eyes seemed to spark with something…._more_; the kind of more that the assholes that used to corner him in alleyways and beat him to a pulp had.

"These are recognition cards; they contain all of the information about the exam I've gathered over the past four years and can only be viewed with my chakra."

"Do they also tell you the statistics of specific people?"

"Yes."

"Then I have a name for you."

The other genin turned to look at Naruto, those who only knew the prankster from their academy days thrown off by the uncharacteristically stern expression on his face. Sasuke smirked, raising an eyebrow before turning towards the silver haired genin.

"I have a name as well."

"Very well; what are the names?"

"Gaara of the Sand."

"Rock Lee of Konoha."

Nodding his head Kabuto placed his hand on top of the deck, whipping his hand out dramatically before showing the two cards he held in his grasp.

"Here we are; Rock Lee is first.

He is only a year older than you; mission experience—20 D-rank and 11-C. Team is as follows; Sensei-Maito Gai with teammates Hyuuga Neji and Tenten .Taijutsu seems to be his only strong point; his genjutsu and ninjutsu are_ terrible_. This is his first time taking the exam as well."

'_Well; now girly-boy and bun-head have names at least. I wonder if this Neji is related to Hinata?' _

"Next is Gaara of the Sand. Mission experience—8-C rank and 1-B as a genin; impressive. He's from Sunakagure so I don't have much more information on him. Although…..it seems that he has returned from ALL of his missions unharmed."

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other with raised eyebrows; what kind of ninja do you have to be in order to be genin-rank and return unharmed from_ ALL_ of your missions? They turned back to Kabuto eagerly for more information on this Gaara; Shikamaru was gob smacked.

"He did a B-rank as a genin and was unharmed; what kind of a boy is he?"

"…There are many hidden villages that turned out for the exam; the newest one is Oto, but I do not have much information on them."

'_***growl* He smells like snake…'**_

'…_Ok; for the last time—__WHO THE HELL ARE YOU__?' _

'_**Think Baka; THINK! Unless there's another demon that took up residence in your body that I don't know about—which is EXTREMELLY unlikely—who the hell do you THINK it is?' **_

Naruto's eyes widened; he knew _EXACTLY_ who he was talking to. Naruto froze for a couple of seconds before his brain caught up with his situation, a thoughtful frown marring his features; what did it mean when your bijuu started talking to you?

'_**No~:…. it doesn't mean you will go INSANE….Baka Gaki.' **_

Mentally Naruto glared, the demon foxes chuckling letting him know how ineffective _THAT_ was.

"Hey; Naruto."

"Hm?"

Naruto turned to Sasuke, raising an eyebrow at the smirk on the ravens face.

"Why don't we let these _'more experienced' _genin know whose going to kick their ass?"

Naruto stared at him in surprise before a grin spread across his own face, nodding in conformation before they turned to address the other shinobi.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke….."

"…And I'm Namikaze Naruto! We're the Rookie Genin of Konoha and we're gonna _kick your ass_!"

Turning to look at the other rookies Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle at some of their faces; it was just too priceless for words!

"Troublesome idiots; they just made an enemy of everyone here."

"You _**BAKA'S**_!"

Naruto yelped in pain as his and Sasuke's heads smashed together, Sakura standing behind them menacingly as they rubbed their heads. The two boys ignored the pink haired kunoichi as she ranted at them, the both of them smirking; if the Oto nin wanted to surprise attack them, they would have to be a lot quicker than _THAT_.

Deftly Sasuke caught the two kunai that were flung at him by the brown haired boy, throwing them back with such force that he became pinned to the ceiling by his clothes. Naruto merely slid one leg forward, slipping inside the bandage-boys defenses before slamming him against the wall with a burst of blue chakra. The Oto kunoichi helped her teammate down from the ceiling as bandage-boy slowly came to, the entire room staring in shocked silence at the two smiling boys.

"….baka."

Before anyone could to anything white mist filled the front of the classroom along with numerous _'poofs'_ of the transportation jutsu. When the mist cleared several proctors stood in stoic silence, though the figures in front were the most…disturbing out of the group, the taller of the two giving a chilling grin.

"Listen up you fuck heads; my name….is Momochi Zabuza."

Kakashi:…Fealion?

Fealion: _*sigh*_ Yes Kakashi?

Kakashi:_*pouts* _Will—will I get my Naru-chan soon?

Fealion: You'll have at least kissed by the end of the Chunin Exams alright?

Kakashi_:*pumps fist into the air* _**YES!**

Fealion: Good; now stop _POUTING_. It's creepy.

Kakashi: Is not!

Fealion: Ignore him; (_at minimum fluffy_) **KakaNaru** coming up soon!

**REVIEW PLEASE! BUH-BYE NOW!**


	14. Chunin Shiren San aka Toutoi

Fealion: Okay Kakashi; I put in a nice little cuddle scene at the end. Ya happy now?

Kakashi: Slightly.

Fealion: Oh for the love of…_*sigh* _Fine; But you're doing the disclaimer for the next couple of chapters!

Kakashi: Yes ma'am! _**DISCLAIMER**__**: FEALION DOES NOT OWN NARUTO. **_Though if she did it would be much easier to buy him so that he can become my cute little bed-.

Fealion: Kakashi; stop. Just stop.

Anyway; people to thank:

**Naarano**: Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy!

**kilo1133**: Wow; 2 hours. I know I do my best when writing the chapters but; wow. Thank you!

**KimiwaDaredaBokuwaLambo**: I like your name: I would never remember it if that was my login but I like it. Hopefully this chapter clears up some of your confusion.

**Blahhhhhhhh ():** Glad you like it; I love writing all the little ins and outs of the different relationships—it just makes them THAT much more real ya know?

To everyone else thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for reading!

On to the story!

"…May name is Momochi Zabuza."

The gathered genin stared at the man in trepidation; everyone had heard of the Demon of the Mist at one point or another and to see such a dangerous man standing before them sent chills racing up their spines. Zabuza cast a sweeping gaze over the group, smirking as some of them shifted in their seats uncomfortably.

"I'm only gonna say this once; you don't fight unless I or one of the other proctors tell ya to—even then, ya don't kill each other. Anyone who disobeys gets to_ 'play' _with me for a bit; I won't go easy on you just because you are genin."

Team Seven smirked as some of the genin shuddered in fear, moving into line and turning in their applications once they reached the front, smirking at Zabuza as he caught their eye before going to sit in their designated seats. Naruto looked around the room as he waited for the exam to start; it sucked that the first part of the exam was a written test, but he wasn't overly concerned with it. He just wanted to get it over and done with so that he could forget about it as soon as possible.

"N-naruto-kun?"

"Huh? Oh hey Hinata."

"L-let's do our best on the exam okay?"

"You bet!"

Naruto smiled at the shy Hyuuga before turning his attention back up front.

'_I __really__ need to work on my awareness; I didn't even know she was there!' _

"Alright; listen up. I'm only goin to explain this once and don't you dare ask questions or I'll have Haku senbon you. All of you are given 10 points to start with each of the followin 10 questions worth 1 point each. These tests are set up so that if you get all 10 right you get 10 points and if you get somethin like two wrong you get 8 points, got it? Oh; the total grade you get is based on ALL three of your team members' points."

The gathered genin let out shouts of surprise at this rule; it was obvious that people were hoping to get by on their own talent rather than having to rely on others who may or may not be as strong as they were academically or physically.

"Shut up! Now; if the gathered proctors that are sitting around the room determine that you're cheatin you lose 2 points every time you're caught, which means some of you idiots will be kicked outta here without your papers being graded. Also…..if _ANYONE_ on your team gets zero points or is kicked out, your entire team will _FAIL_. Which means less of you spineless guppies will be runnin around to be cut down by the first _REAL_ ninja ya meet."

The rest of the genin that hadn't freaked out at the_ 'entire team fails if one fails'_ thing began to murmur angrily at the_ 'spineless guppy' _comment; until Zabuza let out a concentrated blast of killer intent that is.

"Ya have an hour to complete the test and the final question will be given when ya have 15 minutes left. Now START!"

Naruto leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as the furious tapping of pencil against paper filled the air; he had a plan, though he wasn't exactly sure as to how smart it was.

'_Kyuubi?'_

'_*growl* __**What do you want Gaki?' **_

'_What would you want—within reason—in return for greater access to your chakra and some of your knowledge?' _

'_*snort* __**Why do you think I would want anything from you human?'**_

'_Well I don't know about you, but personally I think it would suck to be a 1,000+ year old demon who suddenly got stuck in the body of a kid for 12 years with nothing to look at but…..what DO you have to look at all day?'_

'_*snort*__** The inside of said brats mind; which by the way is nothing but a giant fucking sewer system.'**_

'_THAT'S what my mind looks like? Gross.'_

'_**Try looking at it for 12 years.' **_

'_NO THANK YOU! But back to my question.' _

'_**Why do you even WANT to know?' **_

'_Because with your help—or grudging cooperation; either one—I can become much more powerful than I am currently. That and I think that 12 years of no outside contact whatsoever is more than enough time in solitary confinement don't you think?' _

Naruto let Kyuubi think about it for a bit as he scanned the room around him, amused at the amount of people who seemed to be frozen in fear as they stared at their exam. Flipping the paper over Naruto took a look as his own exam, one golden eyebrow rising in disbelief at the complexity of the questions.

'_Do they expect everyone to be geniuses or something? There is NO WAY that everyone would be able to do this sort of problem; you would have to be at Sakura's level, or even smarter in order to UNDERSTAND some of these questions! Unless…..unless they want you to cheat__ WITHOUT__ getting caught!' _

Naruto resisted the urge to smack his head against the desk; it was so simple!

'_**Gaki;….. **__**GAKI!**__**' **_

'_Owww! What?' _

'_**I want to be able to share your senses at all times unless it's something intimate and potentially scarring and the ability to create a dog-sized avatar outside of your body when situations allow for it and **__**FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI**__** come in here and change your mindscape so that I'm not constantly reminded of the common cesspool for human waste! Do this and….**__*sigh*__**…..and I'll let you have access to three of my tails with complete control and all of my memories for the past 50 years. **_

_**Do we have a deal?' **_

'_Throw in not taking over my body unless it's a matter of life or death __that I can't get myself out of__ and we have a deal.'_

'_Fine; I would prepare yourself gaki—this is going to hurt.' _

Naruto was about to ask _'what was' _when he suddenly felt like everything was on fire, the pain making every muscle in his body tense as he struggled to keep from screaming or drawing any kind of attention from the shinobi around him. Looking up as he felt a gaze upon him Naruto shook his head minutely as Haku asked him in short-hand if anything was wrong, managing a weak grin as the slighter boy looked at him disbelievingly even as the fire continued to rage through his system. By the time the pain subsided enough that Naruto could look around himself with any coherency he only had about 25 minutes left in the exam.

'_**Oi gaki; take another look at those problems.' **_

'…_..Kyu?' _

"_**IT'S KYUUBI TO YOU GAKI**__**; since we now share senses I can talk to you at any time without you having to concentrate to reply. Now; the exam?' **_

Naruto spent the next 10 minutes going over the problems with Kyuubi, his brain almost going into overload from the amount of information he learned in such a short amount of time and the fact that the Kyuubi no Yoko was _ACTUALLY HELPING_ him.

"Excuse me."

"What?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"_*Sigh* _Go then but be quick about it."

Naruto looked back to find who was talking, ignoring the occasional outbursts as the proctors steadily weeded out the genin too obvious with their _'cheating_', eyes narrowing as he saw that it was Kankuro.

'_It's the guy who nearly ripped Konohamaru a new one; what is he up to?' _

Shrugging Naruto turned back to his exam, a sly grin coming to his face as he thought about the objective of this test.

'_Just because this is an information gathering exercise doesn't mean I have to make it easier for them.' _

With that in mind Naruto applied a light Kōha onto his paper to make it appear to be invisible, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin as he waited for Zabuza to give them the final question.

"Alright; since we've managed to get rid of most of the guppies I'll give you your final question. But first—hey make-up boy, tell your doll to sit back down and take a seat."

Naruto smirked as Kankuro froze on the spot; the funny thing was is that it was probably _HAKU_ who noticed it and told Zabuza—ice mirrors do come in handy after all. That and Zabuza had been steadily leaking a controlled amount of KI throughout the exam, which got rid of half the genin because they messed up on _PURPOSE_ just to try and get away from it. In fact….

Naruto frowned as Zabuza upped his KI; it seemed that the final question was aimed at eliminating as much of the genin as possible.

"First you are goin to choose if you want to take this question or not. If you choose against it you and your teammates will fail. If you choose to take this question and get it wrong…"

Here Zabuza paused, his shark-like grin further unsettling the already jumpy genin.

"…you will _NEVER_ be allowed to take the Chunin exam again."

"What the hell?"

Naruto whipped his head around to look at the noisy offender, struggling to keep from doubling over in laughter as Kyuubi commented on Kiba dryly.

'_**Oh great; a little pup. Make that **__**TWO **__**little pups.**_**' **

"There are people who took the exam last year that are here this time; what's the difference between then and now?"

Zabuza gave a chilling grin.

"Me. Now choose!"

Naruto sighed as the remaining genin started dropping like flies, unable to take the pressures of the choice and Zabuza's KI.

'_This is getting ridiculous.' _

Slowly Naruto raised his hand, waiting until Zabuza was looking straight at him before slamming his hand down as hard as possible.

"I'm not going to quit! I don't care if I remain a Genin for the rest of my _LIFE_; I _WILL_ become Hokage one day and there is _NOTHING_ that you or anyone else can say that will stop me from making my dream a reality!"

Zabuza stared at Naruto for a bit, his grin widening even more as he seemed to piece together the reason behind Naruto's outburst.

"Are you sure that you don't want to quit?"

"*_grin* _I never go back on my word.

_THAT_ is _my_ Ninja Way."

Zabuza looked around the room, catching the eye of every proctor as they nodded before turning his attention back to the genin's.

"Very well. Everyone who's still here….passes."

There was an explosion of voices as the remaining genin scrambled for answers trying to understand every detail of the first exam. The only part Naruto cared about was the over-all goal; to test your information gathering skills and to determine whether or not you had the drive to make hard decisions for the betterment of Konoha even when you face an uncertain future. When Haku's eyes flicked over to the window Naruto immediately looked as well, staring as somebody came crashing through the window, throwing up kunai to hold up a large cloth sign even as they stopped their momentum.

'_What. The. Hell?' _

Naruto stared as the woman introduced herself; she was covered in a fishnet body suit that ended mid-thigh, an incredibly short tan mini-skirt and lighter tan trench coat the only things giving her any sort of decency, her purple hair pulled back into a high pony tail and kept out of grey eyes with her hitai-ite.

"—is Mitarashi Anko. Let's go to the next exam; follow me!"

Everyone just stared at her until she turned to Zabuza, deceptively calm as she questioned him.

"78? You let 26 teams pass? _*tch* _the first exam must've been too soft."

"On the contrary Mitarashi-san; they are just extra motivated this year."

Anko raised an eyebrow at Haku before shrugging dismissively.

"It doesn't matter; more than half of them will fail by the time I'm done with them. We will meet tomorrow for the 2nd exam; ask your instructors for the time and place. Don't be late. _DISMISSED_!"

Naruto shook his head as he joined Sasuke and Sakura; he hoped to kami that he didn't end up like _THAT_ when he got older.

'_**You do and I will take over and commit seppuku(1) on you.' **_

'_HEY!' _

Naruto pouted slightly as Kyuubi laughed at him, looking up as Sasuke asked him a question.

"Are you going back to the compound now Naruto?"

"Nope; I wanna go to Ichiraku's tonight—it's been awhile since I've seen the old man."

"Want me to tell Hiro-nii where you'll be?"

"Would you?"

"_*Hn* _You owe me dobe."

"Thanks Sasuke; bye Sakura—see ya tomorrow!"

With that Naruto took off, thoughts of delicious ramen filling his head; only he never got there.

"There's the demon!"

"Get him!"

Naruto yelped and changed direction; why wouldn't these assholes leave him _alone_? Quickly Naruto took to the rooftops, managing to lose the civilian half of his pursuers as the shinobi half took to the rooftops after him, Naruto desperately trying to remember how to get to the compound in his blind panic. Thinking fast Naruto made a couple of bunshin to scatter off in all directions as he ducked down into an alleyway; he was going to through up his Kōha when he was grabbed from behind, his assailant pinning his arms in a one-armed bear hug while the other clamped over his mouth, drawing him tight against a powerful chest.

"Naruto; Naruto calm down! It's me; it's Kakashi-sensei."

The man spun him around so that Naruto could get a good look at him, heart clenching unexpectedly as Naruto continued to look at him warily.

"How do I know you're not using a henge?"

"Naruto; feel my chakra. Does it feel like a henge to you?"

Slowly the spikey haired blonde shook his head, throwing his arms around the silver haired jounins neck as he shook against his chest.

"Why can't they just leave me alone Kakashi-sensei; why?"

Kakashi had no answer for the blonde, holding Naruto to him tightly as he used the Shushin to end up directly in front of his apartment, gently guiding him as he checked to make sure that no _'hostiles'_ noticed them slipping inside. Leading Naruto into the living room Kakashi had him sit down on the couch as he went into the kitchen, managing to make Naruto smile weakly as he came back with some instant ramen and a hot kettle a couple of minutes later.

"I didn't know you ate ramen Kakashi-sensei."

"_*chuckle* _Just because I'm not as big of a fanatic as you are doesn't mean I can't enjoy a cup or two every now and again. I don't know how you like yours prepared; I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all."

Then Naruto smiled. It wasn't his _'public smile'_, oh no; this smile was far richer, far deeper and honest than that other smile and it nearly took Kakashi's breath away.

"You can get comfortable if you want; I'll send a letter to Hiroto with Pakkun explaining what happened, but I doubt you'll be going anywhere else tonight."

Naruto _'true-smiled'_ again, nodding his head slightly as he took off the orange jumpsuit along with his hitai-ite and sandals, leaving him in a fishnet shirt with navy blue shorts and a few wrappings around each calf. Smiling to himself Kakashi prepared his own ramen, snapping out of his musings as he noticed Naruto looking at him uncomfortably.

"What is it Naruto?"

Naruto ducked his head; cheeks coloring slightly in embarrassment because he was caught staring before looking at Kakashi with questioning azure eyes.

"Why haven't you _'gotten comfortable'_ yet Kakashi-sensei? Is it because I'm here? I can get dressed again if you want; after all I don't wa—."

Kakashi placed an ungloved finger against Naruto's lips, silencing him before smiling gently.

"It's not you Naruto; honestly sometimes I forget I'm still in full gear. I'll _'get comfortable'_ now; that is, as long as _YOU_ don't mind?"

Quickly Naruto shook his head. With practiced ease Kakashi removed his gear, placing it all in a neat pile and stripping down until he was in nothing but the standard issued jounin pants and a tight navy blue wife beater—and his mask and Hitai-ite of course.

"Ne sensei?"

"Yes Naruto?"

Why do you always wear your mask and hitai-ite? I mean I know that the hitai-ite covers your Sharingan; but can't you take it off?"

"Unfortunately no. I can't turn off my Sharingan like Sasuke can so it's on all of the time. I have to keep it covered or the continuous drain on my chakra would eventually kill me. As for the mask…I became _ANBU_ when I was seven years old; a prodigy. But because I was so young no one wanted to take me seriously so I took to wearing it to make my age harder to guess when you were just looking at me. I still wear it because honestly? People the_ Hokage's_ age haven't done half the things I have and I'm less than half their age."

"…It shouldn't matter what they think Kakashi-sensei. If I had tried to fit in with what other people thought of me I would have been dead a long time ago."

"Naruto, I—."

"Let me finish sensei. The village in general shouldn't matter; only the people you care about should."

Kakashi stared at Naruto thoughtfully for a few seconds before a rare grin worked its way onto his face, a carefully wielded kunai ripping down the front of the mask from top to bottom where it was pulled off by a large, calloused hand.

'_**Stop gaping at him and tell him you can fix the damn eye.' **_

'_What are you talking about Kyuubi?' _

'_**Just WHO do you think the Sage got the Sharingan from in the first place? Just get him to let you pump a little bit of chakra into the eye; I'll do the rest.' **_

Nervously Naruto moved so that he was standing in front of Kakashi, momentarily mesmerized by the aristocratic nose and sharp jawline, pale thin lips quirked into a smile before they moved, forming words.

"What's up Naruto?"

Naruto blushed, ducking his head briefly before looking directly into his sensei's eye(s).

"I—I can help you with the Sharingan."

"How?"

"Ummmm; —."

"Woah, woah; slow down Naruto. Mind repeating that?"

"_*sigh_*….Kyuubi said that he would be able to _'repair the switch' _that allows a user to turn the dojutsu in the eye on and off."

"….And you trust him?"

"I wouldn't be suggesting it if I didn't."

Kakashi was silent for a time, mulling over what Naruto had told him while eating his ramen, finishing the broth before he was able to give is answer.

"I will trust you on this Naruto; but know if this fails there will be a_ LOT_ of people angry at both you and him. Are you sure you can deal with that?"

Naruto sucked in a deep breath.

"I would_ NEVER_ let him hurt one of my precious people."

Kakashi stared into those determined blue orbs before nodding slowly, lifting his hitai-ite until the left eye was exposed, shifting nervously as Naruto gently grabbed both sides of his face.

"Just look into my eyes and relax sensei. Whatever happens, _DON'T MOVE_ until I tell you too alright?"

Taking a deep breath Kakashi nodded his head, keeping still as he felt the first prick of Naruto's chakra invading his eye. The prick turned into a steady burn as the chakra changed from a light blue to a deep red, the burn engulfing the entire left eye and the nerves surrounding it before fading. Naruto shuddered before swaying slightly, grinning up at Kakashi as the older man caught him and placed him on the couch.

"It worked; go find a mirror and see."

Slowly Kakashi walked into his bathroom, staring in shock at the normal colored _UNACHEY_ left eye. They were still mismatched; inky black contrasting against a dark chocolate brown—but he was able to see out of both eyes, something he hadn't been able to do since Obito's death. This reminded him…

"Focus some of your chakra to your eye."

Naruto called from the living room, making the silver haired jounin pause before shaking his head; he _REALLY_ didn't want to know how Naruto knew what he was thinking. Doing as Naruto instructed Kakashi let out an unconscious sigh as the eye returned to its normal blazing red with black tomoe, withdrawing the chakra he had pushed towards it and watching in fascination as it bled back into a dark russet.

Grinning Kakashi made his way back to the living room, the grin morphing into a soft smile as he watched Naruto nuzzle the pillow he was curled up against on the sofa before picking up the blonde bridal-style in both arms and moving towards his bedroom. Naruto didn't protest as he curled up against Kakashi's chest instead, grabbing the jounins arm as he made to move away after tucking the smaller blonde in. Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow in question, chuckling softly as Naruto blushed again before looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Please; don't go? I don't….I don't want to be alone; not tonight."

"You don't mind sharing the bed?"

"I trust you."

Kakashi's breathing hitched at Naruto's seemingly innocent words, nodding his head and getting under the covers before it even really registered what he was doing. Suddenly Kakashi sat up straight: Hiroto. After promising Naruto that he would be right back Kakashi went to find some paper, writing a quick note explaining the situation before summoning Pakkun.

"You need something boss?"

"Could you take this to Hiroto please? Naruto was almost caught by a mob earlier today and I want Hiroto to know that his _'brother'_ is safe before he goes on a murderous rampage looking for him."

Pakkun had the decency to look slightly uncomfortable at Kakashi's suggestion before running out the door toward the Uchiha's complex. Kakashi sighed as he closed the door and went back into his room before getting back under the covers of his bed, smiling fondly at the blonde as he cuddled up to the older male in his sleep. Kakashi's last coherent thought before he drifted off was that it was rather nice, falling asleep next to someone who cared about you.

He could get used to this.

1. Samurai Suicide. Look it up if you want to know more.

Fealion: All I have to say right now is that it is almost 23:00 and I am tired.

Naruto: What's 23:00?

Fealion: 11 pm.

Naruto: Why not say that then?

Fealion: Cause it's fun confusing people with 23:00.

REVIEW AND UNTIL NEXT TIME!


	15. Kihaku Hazumi

Fealion: My mind has a _mind of its own_.

Hiroto: Isn't that physically impossible?

Fealion: It should be shouldn't it? But _nooo~;_ it decided to have the epic bonding Kakanaru moment _now _instead of _later_ like I wanted it to!

Hiroto: _*Backing away slowly*_ Okay then; I'll leave you and your mind alone to work things out alright?

Fealion: Please do; Kakashi!

Kakashi: Hai! _**DISCLAIMER**__**: FEALION DOES NOT OWN NARUTO.**_ If she did it would be M rated and have a _**LOT**_ more yaoi and giant explosions than it already does.

Fealion: Peoples to thank!

**XxXxFading DreamxXxX**: Don't worry—it gets better for him!

**Kyothefallenkit**: Even I don't know what's going to happen when he finds that out and I'm writing the darn thing! Guess you'll just hafta read to find out huh?

**LamboIsAnIdiot**: Oh—I'm going to look it up now 'cause that sounds super cute and funny! No Hiroto isn't going to heaven: you were right the first time. Here more Kakanaru fluff; enjoy!

**KritianLOVE**: Yes he's going to have love, it's just going to take a bit longer for him to get it.

**chobits909**: Well you're in luck; more fluff! As for your question; I guess you'll just hafta read the chappie won't ya?

To everyone else thank you for reading and adding me to all your favorites and alerts!

Now on to the story!

'_**Io, gaki; wake up. Gaki?...**__**GAKI!...**__** . . . .**__*sigh*__**' **_

Kakashi let out an _'omph!'_ of surprise as something small and furry collided with his chest, opening one lazy eye to look at the red fox kit that stood on his chest defiantly, its crimson orbs _DARING_ him to ignore it and fall back asleep. Kakashi opened both eyes before blinking, sighing as the illusion didn't disappear like he hoped it would.

"…..Kyuubi?"

The fox gave a firm nod of its head, rolling its eyes as the silver haired man continued to look at him questioningly.

"Does Naruto know about this?"

Again the fox nodded its head, giving a sharp growl when the man opened his mouth to speak before jerking its head sharply to the clock and then to the young golden haired man that was currently using the left side of his body as a full-length pillow, head nestled on his chest as deep, even breaths warmed his skin. Kakashi smiled at how innocent he looked before glancing at the clock, sighing when he noticed that he had about 2 hours to get the blonde cutie ready for the day before he was to start the next part of the exam.

Stretching Kakashi poked the blonde in the side to wake him up, a grin working its way onto his face as the younger male squirmed away from the touch before Kakashi began to tickle him mercilessly, sapphire eyes snapping open as the blonde attempted to escape the silver-haired mans' grasp.

"S-stop! _*giggle_* Ka-kaka_*gasp*_ KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Laughing helplessly as Kakashi continued his assault the blonde attempted to retaliate, giggling as the chibi-Kyuubi nipped at them irritably before stalking towards the kitchen with his tail high in the air behind him, causing both males to laugh uproariously. Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye Kakashi went to go use the bathroom, shooing the young blonde in after he was done and changed into clean pants and shirt before padding to the living room to put on the rest of his gear, throwing the dirty laundry into the hamper on his way to the kitchen.

Kakashi went over and got out some of Tuesdays chicken from the fridge and cut it up into small chunks before placing it in a bowl on the floor in front of the chibi-fox, shaking his head in bemusement as it practically purred before beginning to eat eagerly.

'_I guess that not actually eating for 12 years does make you pretty hungry…..' _

The silver haired man grimaced at the thought, catching a flash of white out of the corner of his eye as he did so. Turning Kakashi finally noticed the scroll and letter that were innocently sitting in the middle of the table, a silver eyebrow lifting as he opened the letter and recognized Hiroto's handwriting.

Kakashi,

I swear when I find the asshole shinobi who still try and take their anger at the Kyuubi out on Naru—well; training accidents do happen don't they?_ *maniac grin* _Anyways; you better get him to the second exam _ON TIME_; our next spar could be quite '_eventful_' if you don't.

On a different note, there's some new clothes for Naru inside the scroll; orange might be his favorite color (it is, in case your wondering—and silver) but I'm tired of him wearing a neon jumpsuit that practically screams "HERE I AM; KILL ME KILL ME!". _*glares* _Stop _laughing_ 'cause you _know _it's true.

Oh; I approve the two of you (you _KNOW_ what I'm talking about) but the whole over protective _'older brother'_ thing applies; hurt him and _I WILL KILL YOU_.

Ja ne,

Hiroto.

Kakashi stared at the bottom of the letter before shaking his head, making it about halfway down the hallway to his room before freezing suddenly; did Hiroto know because he and his older self had—? Kakashi shook his head tiredly as he resumed walking; it would explain the nicknames, if nothing else. Opening the door to his room Kakashi went on knocked on the door to the bathroom, waiting until he heard Naruto shout over the noise of the shower to begin speaking.

"Hiroto sent some clean clothes back over with Pakkun last night; I'm going to put them on the bed for you ok?"

Hearing a shout of confirmation Kakashi placed the scroll on the bed before making his way back into the kitchen, pulling out the necessary ingredients and utensils for cereal, scrambled eggs and toast before turning to get himself a cup of coffee. Turning around Kakashi's eyes widened over the top of his mug as he caught sight of Naruto. The blonde was dressed black ninja-cargo pants that hugged slim hips, a bright neon orange mesh shirt skimmed over toned muscled incased in bronze skin, an unzipped fitted black hoodie giving the outfit a dark, yet sexy look.

"Ne ne Kakashi-sensei; look at the back!"

Twisting around in his seat Naruto proudly displayed the dark orange circle in the center of his back, three black dots and double tongued flame imitating the base form of his family's kekki genkai. Kakashi smiled at Naruto as he turned back around, placing a plate with eggs and toast on it in front of the boy with the bowl and spoon for cereal off to the side before sitting down to his own breakfast. They ate in silence for a while, which gave Kakashi time to indulge in everyone's favorite relationship game of_ 'what if's?_'.

What the hell was supposed to happen next! Did Naruto even fell the same way? Naruto was his student for _KAMI'S SAKE_, plus he's at least 14 years_ OLDER_ than the boy! What if Naruto rejected him if he told him how he felt? What if he never wanted to speak to Kakashi again? What if—!

"Ano…Ka-…Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi snapped his attention back to the golden haired younger male, smiling in spite of himself at the adorably cute picture that he made with his hands clasped between his knees and slightly bent shoulders, bottom lip nervously caught between his teeth.

"Yes Naruto?"

"I uh…I ju—just wanted…wanted to…..to—oh fuck it."

Before Kakashi could fully comprehend it he found himself with an armful of 12-year-old boy, a small pair of soft petal pink lips pressed against his larger, firmer ones in a simple kiss that was still able to make the jounin feel like he was floating on clouds. Just as Naruto began to pull back Kakashi cradled the blonde's neck with his hand, pressing those perfect lips closer to his own as he closed his eyes. Licking the seam of Naruto's lips Kakashi pressed his tongue in as they parted hesitantly, grinning as he felt the blonde shudder and moan beneath him as he ran his tongue across the roof of Naruto's mouth. A high pitched yip made them break apart to look at chibi-Kyuubi, Kakashi sighing as he caught sight of the time even as he pulled Naruto closer to him.

"We should go."

"Hn."

"….Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes Naru-chan?"

The blonde blushed adorably at the nickname, making Kakashi grin wider as he listened to the younger males' question.

"W—what's going to happen now?"

Kakashi smiled as he gently set Naruto on his feet, speaking as he led him towards the front door.

"We are going to get you to the second exam on time so that Hiroto doesn't follow through with his threat and afterwards we're going to come back here so that we can talk. That sound fair to you?"

Naruto nodded shyly as chibi hopped onto his shoulder, tugging on Kakashi's hand as he went to open the door.

"Yes Naru-chan?"

"_*blush* _Can I—can I call you 'Kashi?"

Kakashi's eyes softened with emotion as he pulled the blonde into a quick kiss, smiling as he turned to open the door.

"Of course."

A brilliant smile lit the boy's face before he poked Kakashi in the side and raced away, yelling back that the last one there was a rotten egg even as the jounin slammed his door shut and bounded after the blonde.

Everything was still inside the apartment until he was convinced that they were gone, lowering the Kōha and letting out a deep sigh as he sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. He had done the right thing, letting them come together the way they had. The man choked back a sob as he rested his head against the table, only the uncontrollable shaking of his shoulders giving his emotions away.

If it was so right, then why did he feel like his heart was about to break in two?

Kakashi caught up with Naruto just outside the village, tackling him to the ground and sending chibi-Kyuubi flying as he once again tickled the blonde to the point of hysterical laughter, grinning as he pulled the blonde to his feet and settled the mini-fox back onto his shoulder. They walked in silence for a time, content to bask within each other's presence as they walked down the path towards the exam. Kakashi stopped as they came in sight of the large chain-linked face and even larger trees behind it, placing his hand on a slim shoulder as he looked deeply into cerulean eyes.

"You, Sasuke and Sakura are one of the best teams I have ever had the pleasure of training. I know that you can do this; now, go over there and show everyone else that you can too."

"HAI!"

Kakashi smiled and ruffled the golden hair before using Shushin, chuckling as faint yells of indignation met his ears.

'_Make me proud Naruto.' _

Grumbling Naruto made his way through the crowd until he found his teammates, staring in awe at the large trees that intimidated with their existence alone.

'_They are MUCH bigger up close.' _

'_**No shit gaki.**__'_

'_Kyuubi?' _

'_*sigh*__** Yes?' **_

'_What am I going to call you when you're in fox form? It's not like I can call you Kyuubi out loud unless we want half of Konoha after us.' _

'_*snort* __**I'll let you figure that out.' **_

'_Okay~; but don't get mad at me if it's something lame.'_

Kyuubi was about to answer when Anko walked in front of the group, answering a random genin's question about what this place was.

"This is where the second exam is going to take place; the 44th training area, also known as the _'Forest of Death'_."

Naruto started at the name; who the hell names a _TRAINING_ area the _'Forest of Death'_? Then he noticed the square, _TAN _rock that was making its way across the grass towards him.

'_Is he trying to be a rock on __GRASS__?' _

'_**Yes; yes he is.' **_

'_Oi! No comments from the Peanut Gallery!' _

'_**?' **_

Naruto rolled his eyes, calmly walking away from the rock before starting to run back and forth along the same stretch of grass, eventually taking off down the trail back to Konoha with the bo—_rock_ following as fast as its _'feet' _would allow. The other members of Team Seven stared after him, Sasuke rolling his eyes while Sakura put her hands on her hips, huffing in agitation.

"Where does that baka think he's going?"

"Right next to you."

Naruto seemed to appear out of thin air, startling the pink haired girl while Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow, smirking as Naruto grinned at them.

"How did you end up here if I just saw you running away?"

Both of the boys shared a look before turning towards Sakura, staring at her like she was the dumbest person on earth.

"Uh; Kage bunshin—duh. I hid under a mild henge while I had Konohamaru and his team chase a bunshin around."

"Oh…Where did they go?"

Naruto waved a hand dismissively, none of them noticing the glare that Anko sent their way for stealing her spotlight.

"I told the bunshin to head back to the village and run around for a while before ducking into an alley and dispelling. This way Konohamaru is kept out of both our hair and old man Hokage's."

Suddenly Naruto was moving, dodging the kunai thrown right next to where his head was not a second earlier, a fierce grin on his face as he turned sharply and blocked the second kunai of a one Mitarashi Anko. The next second found the blonde pushing away from Anko, a barely concealed snarl on his face as chibi-Kyuubi growled fiercely on his shoulder.

'_This lady gives me the creeps.' _

'_**He should.' **_

'_. . .Wait; it's a __guy__?' _

'_**Yup.' **_

'…_.Do you know his name?' _

'_**The scent is…confused, almost like he crawled inside another body to try and mask it. But I'm almost positive that it's the snake that they call Orochimaru.' **_

Naruto stiffened; this was the bastard that Hiro-nii said Kabuto worked under! This was bad; what the hell was he here for?

"—my precious hair was cut so I got a little exited."

Anko smiled sweetly at the woman.

"I'm sorry."

The woman just smiled as she turned to walk back to her group, inky black eyes lighting up with a perverted glee as they slid over the members of Team Seven before falling flat again.

'_Oh Kami__; He's after __us__!' _

"There seems to be a lot of hot-headed people taking the exams; this will be interesting."

Naruto turned to look at Anko blankly as she made her way back to the front of the group; she was the most hot-headed out of all of them. His opinion of her didn't improve either as she produced a huge stack of papers from the inside of her trench coat; how he didn't know.

"These are consent forms; anyone participating in the exam must sign these."

"Why?"

"Because from here on in, people are going to die. Therefore we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise I'd be held responsible. _*chuckle*_ to be honest you will all go through an extreme survival match."

Anko went on to explain the terrain of the area they would be taking the exam in and the purpose of said exam, which basically boiled down to get whatever scroll you don't have by any means necessary and bring it to the tower in the middle of Area 44 by sundown of the 5th day.

"Excuse me; can we quit in between?"

Naruto turned to look for the speaker, rolling his eyes as he identified Shikamaru.

'_Of course it would be him.' _

"As a rule you are not allowed to give up on the exam; in fact, here is a list of things that will fail you. **One**; if you cannot bring both scrolls to the tower you will fail. **Two;** the team that losses a teammate or provides an unrecoverable teammate will fail. **Three;** do_ NOT_ look at the inside of the scrolls until you are at the tower; this is to test your reliability because if you make Chunin you will be handling top secret documents and we want to be able to trust you to deliver _WITHOUT _looking.

That does it for the explanation; we will be trading in your teams consent forms for one of the scrolls at the hut over there and after choosing which gate you want to enter through everyone will start at the same time.

Here's a last piece of advice for you;_ don't die_."

Naruto moved towards the tree line as everybody separated to sign their consent forms, ducking behind a bush just inside the tree line and quickly making three bunshin, using the back of an extra consent form to make three copies of the same note before tearing it up and giving one to each bunshin when he was done.

"I want you to use the Kōha to remain hidden here until after we have started the exam and then give this to Anko. I want_ you_ to use a henge to transform into a fox or animal of some kind and make your way to Kakashi-sensei and I want **you** to go straight to the Hokage, alright? Don't let anyone stop you; the lives of our team—and our village—may depend on it."

The three bunshin nodded solemnly as Naruto seamlessly rejoined the milling genin, waiting until people had stopped paying attention to the area they were in to carry out their respective missions.

"Oh my, it's you, _'shiny-wide forehead'_ girl."

"_*sigh* _Hello Ino."

"Why are you here; I thought you would've gone home by now."

"Ino, Ino, Ino; when are you going to learn that Sasuke isn't interested in you? _*mutters*_or _ANY_ girl for that matter."

"Well when are you going to—wait; what? _What did you say_?"

Sakura smirked; while she was keeping her promise to Sasuke by not telling anyone exactly_ WHO_ he liked, it didn't mean that she couldn't throw Ino-pig for a loop by telling her the gender right?

"Nothing, nothing; I'm just saying you're a little too _'soft' _for Sasuke-kun's taste."

"And since _WHEN_ did you know about my precious Sasuke-kuns _tastes_?"

"_*smirk*_ since I stopped being a fan girl and started being a friend and someone who actually _pulled my weight_ on our team. Besides; I already have a boyfriend—in fact, there he is now.

Ja ne, Ino-pig."

With a playful wink Sakura took her leave of the blonde, sniggering silently to herself at the befuddled look that the blonde's team gave her as she jumped onto Lee's back, squealing as he hooked his arms around her waist and spun her around before setting her down gently.

"Not that I don't enjoy you being here Sakura-chan; but what was that?"

"Oh nothing; just showing all the _jealous_ girls out there that your _my guy_ now."

Lee smiled before placing a quick kiss against Sakura's lips, grinning as she blushed a bright pink before snuggling against him.

"It's time for the teams to trade in their consent form for a scroll."

Lee squeezed Sakura's shoulders and smiled reassuringly at her before leaving to regroup with his team as Sakura looked for the two boys on her team, Naruto taking their forms and leading the way into the tent where they traded them for the _'Heaven'_ scroll.

'_It looks like we need to get the earth scroll in order to pass.' _

"Alright; if you have your scroll follow one of the instructors to your gate—we begin in _THIRTY_ minutes!"

Making their way to their gate the other members of Team Seven seemed to notice the tiny fox on Naruto's shoulder for the first time, Sakura squealing and crushing the fox to her bosom in a death hug.

"He is so _CUTE_! Where did you get him; what's his name?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at the look of mortification on the tiny foxes features, quickly moving to detangle him from Sakura's death grip once her threatened to bite the blondes _'family jewels' _off, setting him back onto his shoulder as he replied.

"Kakashi-sensei gave him to me last night; he said that in addition to having a companion I could use him to freak some of the villagers out. Apparently he has the same coloring as the _'furry little problem'_.

His name is Nintendo(1) by the way."

'_**No fucking way in hell am I going to be called THAT!' **_

'_*shrug* you're the one who didn't want to pick his name.' _

'_**Why you little—!' **_

"The second exam in the Chunin exams starts_ NOW_!"

As everyone raced into the forest Naruto couldn't help but wonder if Team Seven would make it out of this forest unscathed.

_**White. **_

Everywhere that he looked—up, down, left, right—that was all he saw. He couldn't even tell if he was right side up or upside down; laying or standing. He simply was.

'…_.Hey Tsukiya.' _

'_**Yes?' **_

'_Where are we?' _

'_**No clue.' **_

'_*Hn*…..You think we're dead?' _

Before Tsukiya could answer a soft, tinkling giggle filled the white space, seeming to come from every direction as it spoke.

"You aren't dead silly; you're in the Void!"

"Doesn't that mean I'm dead?"

The man blinked as he spoke, as if he had forgotten he had a voice.

"No _*giggle*_but you're not alive either. Think of it as a form of stasis; one that you'll soon be coming out of."

"Oh?"

"Yup! Your and Tsukiya-kuns mates were chosen by the gods to help them fix a _BIG_ mistake the gods made. But they are slowly fading; the gods didn't realize that soul-bonded mates need their other half to live and without them they'll eventually die from a broken heart and spirit.

So~; we're sending you back!

Oh! We're sending eye-brow man and purple hair back too! You'll be dropped in….Wave? just on the other side of the bridge; it's up to you to get to your mates from there, though I _CAN _tell you that they are at home right now.

Oh! It's time! Say hi to Nintendo for me!"

The man wanted to ask who the hell Nintendo was but was unable to as he was swiftly sucked in to a whirling vortex before everything blacked out.

'_Soon I'll have you in my arms again Koishi; soon.'_

1. Live luck to heaven. I was looking up random pet names in Japanese when I stumbled across this little nugget.

Fealion: _*grinning perversely*_

Anko: Ummm; why is she grinning like Orochimaru does when he catches sight of a half-dressed boy?

Hiroto: Probably because she just realized that after a couple more chapters of the exam she gets to write about Ero-Sennin.

Anko: Who?

Hiroto: ….Jiraiya.

Kakashi: The writer of Icha-Icha Paradise is coming!

Fealion: Isn't it great! I can't wait! But until then I need you to read and REVIEW! BYE NOW!


	16. Ookami no Sairai

Fealion: The dreaded intro of Orochimaru is finally here!

Hiroto:…..What do you mean dreaded?

Fealion: Idk; I just felt like saying it. Completing the new Pokemon Black in 4 days (that's WITH duty and doing my job so hah!) messes with you man. Did you know that if you level up the water pokemon you get at the beginning of the game to level 55 almost nothing—sort of electric, plant, or dragon types over level 48—can really hurt it, let alone KILL it?

Hiroto:….Remind me again why you're the creator?

Fealion: Because my mind is a minefield of weird, twisted realities like yours?

Hiroto:….…Ummmmm; oh look there's Kakashi for the disclaimer. BYE!

Kakashi: What just happened?

Fealion: No clue.

Kakashi: Maa;_**DISCLAIMER:**__** FEALION DOES NOT OWN NARUTO**_. You would think people would know this by now because Naru-chan and I haven't gotten together in the Anime or Manga but…..

Fealion: People like to act like poop heads for no reason.

Peepz to thank! (I hyper; so sue me! Hopefully for whatever I'm on so you're hyper too!)

**Kibaxkaori:** I am ecstatic that you like it that much! Eh; sorry 'bout that. Sometimes I forget which breaks will show up on Word but not on the web page.

**XxXxFading DreamxXxX**: Thanks; this is more of an "explaining" chapter than anything else, but there is a little forest at the end. I know! Would you suspect that cute 'lil ball of fluff to be the big bad demon?

**chobits909:** Thanks! I thought the end of the chappie added an unexpected twist no? Here's more for ya!

**Erisabeisuu:** I'm glad someone understands the_** 'Lmfao'**_ factor that went into Kyuubi's cover name. I was giggling for 5 minutes when I saw what it meant.

**LamboIsAnIdiot**: Unfortunately Jiraiya-kun isn't here yet; damn 5 days in the Forest and elimination rounds. Your right; they ARE the people you're thinking of. As for disguises; Hiroto only had to look older, didn't he? Never the less they will look vastly different from their younger counter-parts. As for Tsukiya….you'll just have to read to find out won't you? _*Smirks* _

**MsBeeHaven:** I glad you like—hopefully the loop thrown in here still makes the story up to snuff. Enjoy!

**the-new-black**: First I have to say that when I received your review the first thing I did was laugh at the sheer amount of questions. Not that they were a bad thing; they actually got me thinking and gave me ideas on how to connect things I had no IDEA how connect—there were just so many of them. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of your questions on Soul Bonds. Then again it just might generate more; who knows? A LOT of the questions you asked will be answered in one way or another throughout the story—after all Madara, the Akatsuki and the numerous deities' still have to be introduced right? I hope you enjoy and I know—sometimes not even I understand myself when I write.

To everyone else: thank you for reading and adding me and my story to your various alert lists!

ON TO THE STORY!

* * *

_*Poke, poke* _

"Hey."

_*Poke* _

"You alive?"

_*Poke, poke, poke* _

"Oi; jii-chan!"

"_**I AM NOT OLD!" **_

The silver haired man roared as shot up from where he was sprawled out on the grass, making the boy that was poking him backpedal before landing on his ass, staring at the silver haired man with wide eyes as he buried his head in his hands and groaned loudly.

"Umm; mister? Are you ok?"

The boy continued to stare at the man as he mumbled under his breath for a couple of minutes—something about _'headache_', _' pounding'_, _'Lee' _and _'Stupid wolf'_—before stilling and taking a deep breath, freezing as his one visible eye landed on the boy. The boy stared back, taking in the—_unique_ way the man dressed as he slowly stood up. Black ninja cargo's and a tight black wife beater covered the mans' body, black ninja sandals, blackened iron plated gloves and a sleeveless, knee-length ash white duster completing the look. The mans' silver hair spiked chaotically all around his head, the part above his right eye making the sweeping bangs on jaw length hair partly cover the mismatched eye and thick scar that ran from his temple to halfway down his cheek. The boy blinked as the man seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in, looking down at him with a bored expression.

"Hey kid."

"My name is_ NOT_ kid."

"Then what is it?"

The boy gave the man a look that plainly said '_do-I-look –that-stupid-to-you'_ before the man pinned him with a lazy black eye, raising one silver eyebrow in challenge.

"You either tell me your name now or else I'll just keep on calling you kid even after I figure it out."

"…Inari."

"Well Inari-kun; can you tell me where I am?"

The dark haired boy looked at the silver haired man like he was crazy before sighing; knowing his luck, he probably was.

"You are just out of sight of the Great Naruto Bridge; named after a great ninja who gave the Country of Wave its spirit back—and its strength."

"Oh really?"

"Yea really. Naruto and his team were able to drive off Gato's men and kill Gato himself! They were even able to convince the Demon of the Mist and his friend to come back to Konoha with them!"

"Naruto…It wouldn't happen to be _NAMIKAZE_ Naruto would it?"

"Yea!...How did you know?"

"_*chuckle* _I check up on the village from time to time. The other members of his team are….Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, with the Sensei being Hatake Kakashi, correct?"

"Almost; you're forgetting Naruto-san's cousin. . .Eh; what was his name?...Oh; Kobayashi Hiroto!"

The silver haired man blinked in surprise; cousin?

"Cousin?"

"Yup; he's like an older and cooler version of Naruto—they even have the same whisker marks!"

The silver haired man smirked as Inari went off on how cool the Konoha ninja were; it seemed that they really_ HAD_ been sent back into the past, and from the sound of it his kitsune had become a mentor to his younger self.

"I just noticed something. You know my name; but I don't know yours."

"_*laugh* _If you must know my name is Yukimura Raidon—."

"Raidon?"

"Yes."

"….Seriously? Who names their kid after a god?"

"_*chuckles* _My father apparently; said it was so that i wouldn't get picked on so much in the academy."

"Did it work?"

"_*laugh*_ Not at _ALL." _

Raidon smiled as Inari laughed, brow furrowing as he remembered some of what the voice had said.

'_Eyebrow-man and Purple hair?...I wonder….'_

"Inari-kun; have you seen anyone else that's not from around here?"

"No; you're the fi—. …

Who the hell is that?"

Raidon whipped around to look at the figure that the boy was pointing towards, smiling as he caught sight of the man. Black hakama style pants covered his lower torso, the top of a dark green jumpsuit and standard Chunin flak jacket covering his upper half. Modified waraji(1) covered his feet and black bandages covered his forearms while his black clothed hitai-ite was tied at the point where the jumpsuit disappeared into the hakama. Long raven hair flowed down to mid-back, bangs framing a strong square jaw, high cheekbones and thickset eyebrows that rested over piercing black eyes. Quickly Raidon signaled to the man while Inari was distracted with his….._unique_ appearance.

'_Use your alias Lee.' _

The younger man nodded, stopping a few yards away from them and raising his hand in greeting.

"Ohayō! Ano…..you wouldn't have happened to have seen a little purple haired girl running around here would you?"

Inari sweat dropped while Raidon shook his head, chuckling at the number of times that the girl had seemed to just _'disappear_', scaring her parents half to death who knows how many times. Speaking of which….Raidon grinned and took a deep breath, Inari hurrying to copy the strangely dressed man as he covered his ears.

"AKIKO-CHAN! IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR OKAA-SAN WE GOT TO LEAVE** NOW**!"

At first there was nothing, and then with a faint rustle of grass and a high pitched squeal a purple haired blur jumped and attached itself to the hakama-wearing man, squealing as she was gripped around the waist and held up high before being crushed to the green clad chest and then placed on his shoulder.

"Hi daddy! Hi Rai-otooji!"

Inari stared at the hyper girl; long curly amethyst hair hung around her shoulders and framed a cute heart shaped face, thin purple eyebrows set above expressively wide pale jade eyes. Black leggings peaked out from underneath a white and red striped skirt, a loose yukata style white blouse with a blue Konoha hitai-ite tied around her waist like a belt and child sized ninja sandals completing the look. Her jade orbs locked on the dark haired boy, giggling when he blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

"Hi; my name is Tsukino Akiko, but you can call me Akiko-chan! This guy I'm sitting on is my Tou-san Takeo and he, Rai-otooji and I are going to go see Ayaka Kaa-san!"

Raidon laughed as Akiko's mouth continued to move at a hundred-miles-an-hour; how she had remained so innocent with everything that had gone on when she was growing up he would never know.

"If you guys are headed to Konoha I could walk with you as far as the end of the bridge on Fire Country side; if it's not too much trouble of course."

"Not at all; we would be honored with your company Inari-kun."

The dark-haired boy grinned widely, looking up to where Akiko sat on Takeo's shoulder with questioning eyes.

"Hey Akiko-chan; have you heard how the Great Naruto Bridge got its name?"

* * *

Hiroto sat on top of one of the logs in Training Ground Seven, one leg drawn up to his bare chest while the other dangled off to the side, cerulean eyes deep and contemplative as he stared into the sky.

'_Ne; Kyuubi?' _

'_**Yes kit?' **_

'_The seal is failing—isn't it?' _

'…_**Which one are you talking about kit?' **_

'*snort*_We only have __one__; the one surrounding our hearts.' _

'_*sigh*__**Yes…..Yes its failing. I **__**TOLD**__** you that you didn't want this type of bon—.' **_

'_NO KYUUBI__; no. If there is one thing I will never regret it is this bond.'_

The Kyuubi went silent, Hiroto silently reviewing everything he knew about their bond; a Demonic Soulmate Bond. It was different from a normal Human Soul Bond; while human bonds were rare, if two souls who are truly meant to be together actually came together it_ WILL_ happen. The difference between the two comes from the fact that while humans may feel incredible pain or become deathly ill from the loss of their bonded; they will eventually recover as long as no injury or other illness is present when they experience the loss of the bond. This was the reason that he wasn't too worried about Ayaka; while she had yet to allow herself to succumb to the pain of losing _BOTH_ her Soul Bond and Parent Bond—bond between the child and two Soul Bonded parents—he knew that she would pull through. She was too stubborn for anything else.

Demonic Soulmate Bonds on the other hand weren't quite so lenient. Normally this bond would only be completed_ BY_ demons, but the Jinchuuriki of said demons were somehow included as well. While the human bond only constructed _"bridges" _between the heart and souls of the two humans; the demonic bond _"mixed" _the two participating souls together and _"switched_" the hearts.

The easiest way to explain it would be for someone to imagine the ying-yang symbol; the white representing the submissive soul while the black represented the dominate soul, tendrils of black and white extending into the other color along the _"line" _where they meet. The hearts are represented by the _"dots" _of opposing colors; the white_ "dot"_ representing the submissive heart while the black _"dot"_ represented the dominate heart. If one or the other were to die the heart of the surviving bonded would _literally __**die**_ with their other half along with feeling excruciating pain from the _"line" _where the tendrils of the other soul had been entwined and then cruelly ripped out.

This is why so few Soulmate Bonds existed outside of the Demonic Realm; if killed _"imaginatively" _enough the death of one soul bonded could actually _**KILL**_ the other without them ever having been touched. Other soul bonded whose other half had died might live for months; even years before the pain of their bondeds death drove them to the grave as well, but in the end all had lost their will to live in the overwhelming desire to be with the other half of their soul again. The only reason Hiroto hadn't joined his 'Kashi soon after his brutal death is because he had used one of the most forbidden jutsus known to man.

_**Kokoro no Munashii**_(2); it allowed the body and soul to survive even after the death or destruction of the heart and would keep both alive until the user could either find a _**NEW **_heart or the soul is no longer able to take the strain of being so incomplete. It did so by placing a _"containment seal"_ of sorts on the area where their dead bonded heart lay, sealing off the crushing agony from the rest of the soul.

The only other way it could come off is if the dead bonded came back to life—but that had only happened_** ONCE**_ in the entire history of the Elemental Nations.

'_**Kit?' **_

'_Yeah Kyuubi?' _

'… _**. .I—I miss them.' **_

Hiroto chuckled tiredly, too in sync with Kyuubi's sorrow to teasingly make fun of the _'Great Demon Lord'_ for actually having feelings.

'_I know Kyu; I miss them too.'_

'_**Do you think we have enough time left to prevent the Bukimi?' **_

'_We'll __HAVE__ to have enough time; I __REFUSE__ to let this time-line end up like our own.'_

'_**You realize that they'll have to go on **__**THAT **__**mission if they are to experience the same bond we and our bonded did right?' **_

'_I know; I just—' _

"Talking to Kyuubi again Naruto?"

Hiroto whipped around in surprise, relaxing as he spotted Ayaka relaxing against the Memorial Stone, hopping off the log and walking up to her as he stared at the names on the stone.

"So what were you talking about?"

Hiroto smiled bitterly, not noticing the heart-aching sadness that resided deep within the mint green orbs as Ayaka glanced at him, concern written on her features.

"The _**'Kokoro no Munashii' **_is finally coming to an end."

Ayaka gasped as her hand flew to her mouth, mint green orbs widening in surprise and fear as tears silently fell down pale cheeks.

"No."

"Don't deny it Sakura; it will just make the pain that much harder to bear with when it fails completely."

"….H-how much time do you think you have left?"

"3 years at the most; 14 months at the worst."

Ayaka froze before slowly straightening her stance, head bowed as tears silently dripped down her face.

"Oh Sakura."

Hiroto moved so that he was standing right in front of the distressed woman, pulling her to his chest and rocking her gently as her body shook with helpless sobs.

0981347509698432574230896598

Kakashi hummed as he walked down the streets of Konoha, a sly grin on his features as several of the women he passed—and a couple of the men too—smacked into poles or the sides of buildings as they stared, trying to figure out who this handsome man could be, never mind the fact that they had seen him countless times in his mask. Spotting a group of jounins and a couple chunins—Kurenai, Asuma, Iruka and Gai among them—in front of Ichiraku's Ramen Kakashi's grin grew wider; he wondered how long he could go without anybody catching on to who he was.

"Excuse me; may I get by please?"

"Oh; I'm sorry….?"

"…Hayate—Hayate Toshiro. May I know your name?"

"Umino Iruka; it's nice to meet you Hayate-san."

"Please; Hayate-san makes me feel so old. Toshiro or even 'Shiro is just fine."

"Then I insist that you call me Iruka."

"Iruka it is. Now why is it I can't go and eat?"

"Oh; I'm sorry Toshiro—Teuchi-san just went on lunch break with his daughter Ayame-san—."

"—And he promised us a free bowl of his famous ramen if we guarded his stand while he was away. I of course accepted to further fuel the Fires of Youth that reside within me!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes; Gai was a lost cause if he spouted off to people he thought were complete strangers. Shaking his head Kakashi turned to Kurenai, raising an eyebrow at the oddly contemplative look on her face.

"Is there something bothering you?"

Kurenai started before squinting her ruby eyes at him, shaking her head after a couple of seconds.

"It's nothing; my name is Yuhi Kurenai by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Kurenai-chan. And the guy smoking a cigarette that looks like he wants to kill me for talking to you is…?"

Kurenai whipped her head to the side and glared at said man, punching him in the arm and making him yelp in pain before turning her attention back to _"Toshiro". _

"_THAT_ is Sarutobi Asuma, son of the 3rd Hokage."

"Ah; I am sorry Sarutobi-san—I did not mean to make it look like I was _'coming on' _to your girlfriend here or make her angry at you."

The two jounin blushed furiously as _"Toshiro"_ said this, some of the gathered ninja laughing loudly at their embarrassment while Iruka blushed in embarrassed sympathy, and Kakashi couldn't help what he did next; he eye smiled. Iruka's eyes widened before they narrowed in irritation, stalking over to the silver haired man and yanking his hitai-ite down over his left eye, using his hand to cover up _"Toshiro's"_ face from the nose down. There was silence for a time as they tried to process what they were seeing, Iruka jerking his hand back as Kakashi licked it before doing another eye smile, adjusting his hitai-ite as Genma—who was also in the group—summed up what everyone was thinking.

"What. The. Hell?...Hatake Kakashi; is that really you?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes before settling his mismatched gaze on the tooth-pick chewing jounin, raising one silver eyebrow in challenge as he adopted a lazy stance.

"It is; you guys suck at telling if someone is lying by the way."

Kurenai narrowed her eyes at him, opening her mouth to tell him off when a loud series of yips caught their attention. Looking down they stared at the red fox kit for a bit, Asuma getting ready to throw a kunai at it when it was swept up into Kakashi's arms, who ignored them in favor of the message said fox was carrying. The other shinobi looked on as the silver haired jounin read, starting in surprise as both of his eyes widened dramatically before using the Shushin to disappear with the fox, Iruka moving to snatch up the message as the others stared in confusion at Kakashi's sudden departure.

"**GOD DAMN IT**!"

The other shinobi whipped their heads around to stare at Iruka in surprise; they had _NEVER_ heard Iruka curse before. Wordlessly Iruka passed the note around the circle, each face grimmer than the last until Asuma was able to read it, lit cigarette falling from his open mouth before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, a hard expression on his face as he opened them again.

"I hope Kakashi knows what he's doing."

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he looked out the large bay window in Hokage Tower, attempting to ignore the mountain of paperwork for a moment of peace; he thought that he was doing rather well at that, to be honest. A loud commotion behind the large double doors that led to his office had Hiruzen groaning in anticipation of whatever was important enough for whoever it was to go against his secretary and the two ANBU assigned to guard the door. A moment later and the doors burst open, revealing a black clad Naruto as he struggled to get out of the ANBU's grasp, managing to free his hand enough to throw a balled up piece of paper at the Hokage before disappearing in a _poof_ of smoke.

'_Shadow Clone; I wonder what was important enough for him to fight past the ANBU for?' _

Taking the piece of paper off of the desk Hiruzen smoothed it out before reading; the first sentence made his blood stop cold.

Orochimaru is after us.

I don't know why, but he is impersonating a woman from Kusakagure and I'm pretty sure that the other people on his _"team"_ are with him as well. The only thing I think he could want us for is my Miyagan or Sasukes Sharingan; Hiro-nii told us a little about this creep. I should probably rejoin the others so that he doesn't get suspicious. Please send help because I don't think that a team of genin stands a bat shits chance in hell of going against a Sannin.

I've sent this to Anko, Kakashi, and the Hokage in hopes that one of them will make it.

Praying I don't end up like Mitarashi Anko in the next five days,

Naruto

"Hokage-sama?"

Hurizen whipped his head up to face the two ANBU and secretary, straightening and squaring his shoulders as the severity of the situation clicked in his brain.

"Kuma; I want you to go to and take an entire squad of ANBU and head to the Forest of Death immediately! Anyone from Kusakagure is to be apprehended and brought to Ibiki for questioning; go!"

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

"Shika; I want you to take two other members of ANBU that you can trust and go find Team Seven. You are to protect **ALL** of them; even if all you do is get the hell out of there. Orochimaru is after them and I don't need to tell you what will happen if he gets his hands on the Miyagan OR Sharingan. Hatake Kakashi and Kobayashi Hiroto may show up and if that happens leave Orochimaru to them; Hiroto has fought him before. I expect **ALL** of Team Seven to be unharmed; understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama!"

"Good; Now **GO**!"

Hiruzen sighed before turning to his secretary.

"Call an emergency meeting for all Jounin and Upper Chunin that are not involved with the Chunin Exams; if Orochimaru is here, I can guarantee you that he has something up his sleeve. Do it as quietly and as quickly as possible; the less time we give for warning, the greater chance we have of stopping whatever he has planned."

"Hai Hokage-sama."

With a short bow his secretary went to go carry out her orders, Hiruzen sinking back into his chair before pulling out an old team photo from his desk, looking at the child in the middle sadly.

'_What are you up to Orochimaru?' _

* * *

_*They're watching.* _

_*I know.* _

Naruto stopped from where he was heading the group, kneeling as they formed a half circle before speaking.

"We need to come up with a password."

"What?"

"_*hn* _I agree with Naru-baka; if we were ever separated someone could easily knock out the _'misplaced'_ individual and then henge into them and lull the other two into a false sense of security before killing them."

Sakura growled at that, missing the amused smirks that passed between the two boys.

"Like that would ever happen; they would have to be as good as—."

"Even if they aren't we still need to be on our guard; kami knows that Naru-baka's pranks have bested even Hiro-nii a couple of times because he wasn't paying attention."

"Of course the last one was when he was still half-asleep but….meh~; who said that everything in life was fair?"

Naruto and Sasuke grinned at each other before getting back down to business, smirking as their little eavesdropper snuck a little closer.

"Now; you will ask _'The Ninja song Ninki?'_And the answer is the following—It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place; it is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down.

That's it."

"Got it."

Sakura smirked in sudden comprehension as she noticed movement from the corner of her eye and echoed the agreement, pouting when she asked to hold Nintendo and the chibi-fox refused to let go of the blonde boys shoulder. Suddenly the foxes head whipped to the right, Naruto pushing his teammates into some bushes and diving for cover as a gigantic blast of air ripped across the patch of ground they were standing on not a moment before. Sasuke mentally cursed from his position in the bushes, whipping around with kunai drawn as he sensed something behind him.

"Sakura!"

"Sasuke; oh t—!"

"Wait; what's the Ninja song Ninki?"

"Oh; right! It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place; it is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down."

"Okay."

Slowly Sasuke brought his guard down, bringing it back up again as Naruto's loud voice sounded behind them.

"Wait Naruto; what's the Ninja song Ninki?"

"Oh that's easy! It is a good chance—."

Pinkette and Raven looked at each other with a raised eyebrow; right before a kunai tied to an exploding tag landed in front of Naruto, blasting him back into a tree as yet _ANOTHER_ whiskered blonde popped up next to them, Nintendo yipping in sadistic—for a chibi-fox anyway—glee from his shoulder.

"Told you he wouldn't think of Nintendo!"

"_*hn* _Like you would've remembered the password anyway."

"Duh; it's too boring to bother memorizing."

"So what should we do about fake-Naru over there?"

Suddenly a cold, dark chuckle filled the space they were standing in, a cloud of smoke signaling the release of the henge as footsteps drew closer to them, the smoke clearing to reveal the woman from Kusakagure.

'_**Throw him off balance Gaki!' **_

'_How the hell am I supposed to do __that?__!' _

'_**Surprise him!' **_

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening them with a wicked gleam as his lips curled into a vicious smirk, growling in his chest as he looked into the woman's eyes.

"Hello;Orochimaru."

* * *

1. Straw Sandals. Like the ones the Soul Reapers wear on Bleach.

2. Void of the Heart

Fealion: Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeres Pedo-Bear!...Wait; it's just Orochimaru.

Orochi: HEY!

Fealion:_*mumbles* _Masochistic, pedophilic, body snatching snake lover—and yet; somehow still **HOT**.

Jiraiya: _*fake whimpers*_What about me?

Fealion: You're the_ Perverted_ kind of Hot; he's the creepy kind.

_*Jiraiya grins while Orochi sulks in a corner*_

Hiroto:…._*staring with a deadpan expression_*…..I did _NOT_ need to hear that.

Raidon: I'm coming my Naru-chan!

Akiko: _*running around like the energizer bunny on crack* _

Fealion: …You gave her Syrup didn't you Lee?

Lee: _*rubs the back of his head nervously*_…..maybe?

Fealion: Excuse me while I try to calm down a Sannin level 9-year-old on a sugar rush.

Read and REVIEW! BYE!


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